


Gold and Fire

by Labeteenmoi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Sexual Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-08-06 21:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16395032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Labeteenmoi/pseuds/Labeteenmoi
Summary: FANFIC ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2011! SOME PLOTS HADN'T BEEN SOLVED YET IN THE ANIME.While Akatsuki gradually loses its members, Madara Uchiha seems preoccupied by other subjects. A young ninja from Konoha will be involved, whether she likes it or not, and may change the fate of the Uchiha clan.





	1. Rain and Dust

A rainy day, like all the others. Whenever he looked at his sad city from the top of his tower, he could not help but think of his friend saying that his city cried incessantly.

With the peace he worked for, he was sure the sun could shine again over his head. By following Madara Uchiha's plan he would succeed. He felt the latter approach silently behind his back, as usual. To believe that he was trying to surprise him constantly. In vain.

"Pain, I have a mission for you," Madara said in the low voice that only Pain could know.

Bread did not deign to look at him. He gazed intently at the tall towers of his city as if to signal to his interlocutor his complete lack of surprise.

"I want you to find a woman," Madara continued dryly.

Pain turned his head toward him, his face expressionless. Madara stepped onto the terrace with a slow step. The dim light of the sky did not reach his face which remained in the shadow, only his dress adorned with red clouds was clearly visible.

Pain, however, had no difficulty in distinguishing his spiral mask, a useless precaution. No one could see them at that height. For some time now he had tended to give a solemn side to his mission orders.

"... what demon is it?" Coldly questioned Pain that this little sententious staging hardly impressed.

"The losses we have suffered lately lead me to think that no one is immortal ..."

"The gods are immortal." Cut off Pain.

A silence that was not serene settled down. With a barely perceptible movement on his cloak, Madara clenched his fists. This annoyance intrigued Pain, who nodded slightly, feigning some submission as a sign of listening. It seemed like a rather special affair.

Madara continued: "The only way to become immortal is through the blood, to have another perpetuating my teachings, my values and my memory ... an offspring."

Bread did not comment, this kind of concern did not touch him closely or at a distance. But since it had nothing to do with capturing the demons, he still wondered what it was all about.

"I need a woman to ensure my descendants and that of my clan", continued Madara without blinking, " so that one day he can reign again, recover all its splendor of yesteryear without repeating the mistakes of the past ..."

"The past is well known, still, men do not remember it" retorted Pain.

"You must find this woman." he said, ignoring the interruption of Pain.

A silence again, only troubled by the sound of the incessant rain that formed a thin and shiny layer on the stone floor of the terrace. In addition to remaining silent, Pain also remained totally motionless, still staring at Madara with an inanimate gaze. He could not say whether it was due to the surprise or the consternation caused by such a request.

" Why ask me to do such a trivial task, Madara?" he finally said, without the slightest emotion in his voice. "Kyuubi is still at large, I better bring him back rather than play matchmakers. Send someone else."

He did not get an answer from the orange mask. The case was therefore not negotiable.

"You will go to Konoha."

Madara turned on his heels and returned to the building, cutting off any possible protest. Pain, meanwhile, returned to his contemplative observation. The sky seemed to reflect his mood at that moment, it seemed darker and the rain was falling harder.

 ***************

 

"AKEMI! WATCH OUT!"

Akemi turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder. No sooner had she seen bright objects come in her direction that she interrupted her race and turned :

"Ninpô Repulsion!" she exclaimed, making a series of signs with her hands.

The objects were none other than kunais and shurikens. Akemi was the target, but the projectiles appeared to slow down as they came upon her and then stopped a few inches from her face, as if suspended in the air.

The tapered points of the weapons began to tremble and then flew in all the opposite directions to get stuck in the rocky walls that surrounded her on both sides of the canyon at the bottom of which she was pursued.

"They attack from behind the bastards! "She hissed between her teeth, staring at the direction from which the projectiles were coming with a fierce air and a bad smile on her lips. She could see the silhouettes of three ninjas who moved quickly to ten meters.

She performed a new series of mudras:

"Doton - Iwayado Kuzushi!"

A roar was born in the depths of the earth, like a growing drumbeat that touched the soles of her feet. Cracks were heard and when the ground began to oscillate, a landslide tumbled down the cliffs around it and blocked the passage between her and her pursuers, raising a thick cloud of ocher dust that covered her in a breath of air.

Maybe they had been buried, but she was not sure. Akemi remained motionless, scanning the invisible and listening as the red fog dissipated. Her teammates, who preceded her, stopped a little further and looked for her. As she slowly reappeared, they saw no sign of their pursuers.

"Well. Forward!" Kakashi Hatake ordered, "we are no longer very far from Suna."

Akemi did not move right away. Covered with dust, she first shook her long hair in a shade similar to that of the rock that surrounded her so well that they seemed to dematerialize.

Finally she turned around and followed her companions who had already resumed their race. Barely a few meters and they were stopped by a new rocky crack, far this time. The three ninjas turned around. The ground was not shaking, but the noise was getting closer. Akemi watched the landslide that she had created, the pile of rocks began to vibrate slightly.

Only then did she feel that something was happening under her feet. Their assailants were not dead, it seemed. Hardly had she time to warn her teammates that the wall that had previously protected them began to collapse in a deafening crash. It was at this moment that the break appeared to her visible:

"Run!" She shouted.

The ninjas executed without waiting and went straight into the canyon which seemed endless to them at the moment. Akemi glanced behind her, a breach cracking the ground and engulfing anything that was not attached to the walls, just as she had engulfed the landslide before.

A powerful technique; the crack pursued them at a good pace. Akemi bit her lip with rage. In the land of the Earth, what did she hope to find? From an impulse she propelled herself up to Izumo Kamitsuki, barely preceded by Kakashi.

"Earth techniques," she yelled, trying to cover the chaos, "it looks bad!"

"What? You can't do anything?" Izumo asked incredulously.

For only answer he got a glare, of those who presaged unpleasant moments if he continued his momentum. Kakashi slowed down to reach their height.

"You two go on, I'm on it."

"At your orders!" Izumo brailed.

Akemi did the one who had not heard, which did not stop her from complying and as they both continued their course; Kakashi slowed down until they could not see him behind them anymore.

"Do you think that's okay to leave him?" Izumo gasped.

The crash ceased, replaced for a moment by strident screeching. Akemi then looked at him with a cynical scowl:

"Yeah, we know Kakashi kind of sucks. I think you should go help him..."

Izumo sighed in annoyance but did not retort. He knew only too well that she should have the last word anyway. It was not worth adding, the conflict that was brewing was already worrying enough to bicker without restraint. The war was imminent.

It was in the air like a nauseating but diffuse smell of which one struggled to identify the exact origin. There was none, no doubt. Only isolated events, apparently, but whose authors all worked for a common goal: the annihilation of humanity for its own salvation.

Akemi felt insignificant in the midst of all these latent political plots and this climate of suspicion. Or rather, she did not feel overly concerned. However, her job was ungrateful and unfortunate that she had to meddle with what did not concern her, from her point of view.

Like this mission, for example, which consisted in analyzing the forces involved, the possible allies, the potential enemies. In small teams, the Konoha ninjas roamed the different countries, gauging the moods of the official but especially unofficial leaders: all these clan leaders who sometimes enjoyed such power that they could overthrow the power in place according to the turn of events.

For these, they had been sent the rogues, Azuma, Anko. For the big ones, the Kage: the politically correct ones, the Kurenai, the Kakashi.

Hence her questions: what was she doing in this team? Diplomacy was not really her forte and it was no secret.

Perhaps it was because her teammates were the only ones who knew how to hold her, what they had already demonstrated in previous missions together.

So it was on the way to Iwa, the hidden village of the Land of the Earth, that the natives showed them immediately which camp they would work in case of conflict. Ninjas pursued them relentlessly to the canyon where their route was likely to end.

"The day declines." Izumo remarked after long minutes of silence.

"Mhh..." Akemi mumbled.

"We'll cross the border and find a place to sleep." he added.

"If you say so." she answered curtly.

Izumo's gaze displayed all the exasperation of the world before resuming:

"What is this time?"

"Bite me!"

"What's the problem this time Akemi?" he cut, seriously annoyed.

Akemi bit her lip with an angry look on her face and then sighed:

"This mission... a fucking waste of my time!"

It was useless to insist. As a former companion, Izumo knew her well enough to know he would never have the upper hand. After an hour of endless running, they managed to cross the border with the Land of Birds.

The sun was shaving the horizon and would soon disappear from the surface. Exhausted, they stopped in the first plain encountered. The advantage was that the wind was much less windy than in the Land of Earth, which would certainly not be one of Akemi's favorite destinations from then on.

It was only after another hour, during which Izumo and Akemi had carefully avoided speaking more than necessary, that a safe, uninterrupted Kakashi arrived with a relaxed step, hands in the pockets.

Interrogating faces greeted him by the crackling fire prepared by Izumo. Kakashi sat in front of them on the dense grass of the floor.

"We are going to Suna tomorrow." Was his only sentence. He lay down then, crossing his hands under his neck as a pillow. He closed his eyes, ready to give himself a well-deserved rest.

"What?!" suddenly thundered Akemi, irascible," that's all? Are you kinding me? We made all this way for nothing and in addition we have to leave again?"

"Suna is on our way. This is our next goal." he replied calmly, without even opening his eyes.

"Ah yes? It's on our way to where exactly? Or do you have other surprises in store?" she continued, still furious.

"It's the mission; Suna then Konoha. Now sleep, we have a long journey tomorrow." he ordered without even raising his voice.

Akemi made a kind of grunt before jumping up and disappearing into the darkness around them. Izumo was no longer surprised by this kind of scene but always admired Kakashi's way of dealing with this fury.

It was the same each time: she would go for a walk, calm her nerves running and then come back, exhausted, and collapse. The next day would be a new day, without ever mentioning the quarrel of the day before. It was like a game.

 ***************

 

" Who are you ?" one of the guards imperatively asked at the entrance to the Hidden Sand Village, raising his spear in front of him. His colleagues did the same thing in the same movement. Visitors aroused more suspicion by the time running.

"We are ninjas of Konoha. We have an urgent message from the Hokage for your Kazekage." Kakashi retorted.

The guard stared at them for a moment. Izumo looked very young to be in charge of such a mission with this even younger and strange-looking girl as a partner.

The bright color of her hair almost hurt his eyes, and her angry look was showing a most unpleasant side of her.

Only the one who seemed to be the leader inspired respect. Moreover, this face almost entirely concealed behind a mask and that gray hair seemed familiar.

"He wants my picture that one?" Akemi taunted, frowning slightly at the guard. Izumo's slight nudge silenced her. Akemi gave him a venomous look at the possible.

Before any reaction from the somewhat tense guards, Kakashi cut short.

"It's very important. I am Kakashi Hatake, jonnin of Konoha. I have to deliver a message from Master Tsunade."

Without getting rid of his suspicious look, the guard ignored Akemi's remark. "Very well," he said finally, "please follow us in this case, we bring you to Kazekage."

Two of the guards then left the village watch to take them to the building where the Kazekage sat. They crossed the great wall surrounding the village and came out into what appeared to be the main street leading straight to the Palace. Villagers sometimes stopped to watch them.

"So fucking dusty here ..." Akemi gasped disgustedly.

Kakashi and Izumo were walking in front of her and decided not to pays attention to her futile attempt at provocation; the first, rather amused, the second, rather embarrassed, not knowing what to say or do to excuse her childish attitude.

A few minutes' walk later, they arrived at the Kazekage's building. The guards led them straight to his office where they were immediately received.

Gaara, the Kazekage, looked at Kakashi and then the two ninjas standing behind him. The man had a very respectful attitude and stared down at the ground, almost leaning over in respect. The woman, on the other hand, stared at him shamelessly.

_So it's him, Gaara, the former Jinchuuriki of the devil of the sands ... it is true that he is scary..._

"Who are they?" the Kazekage asked Kakashi.

Kakashi raised his head, Gaara did not have the habit of being openly curious to his knowledge, but it did not intrigue him any more than the look he was exchanging at the same time with Akemi, whose face showed a defiant expression.

"These are two chunnins from Konoha, Izumo Kamitsuki and ... Akemi Kishiro, specially chosen to accompany me on this mission" said Kakashi.

He did not linger on it, hoping Gaara would move on, but he did not.

"Is there a question you would like to ask, Akemi Kishiro?" he asked in a calm voice.

Izumo imperceptibly clenched his teeth, apprehending what would follow.

"Yes actually ... I wondered if you had recovered from the extraction of your demon. It's said that you usually can't survive it." answered Akemi with a singing tone as if she was announcing the good weather.

"Yes, I'm doing well." Gaara said just as quietly without even blinking at the indiscreet question, " extractions are done very well these days, I thank you for your concern."

Akemi smirked and Izumo relaxed slightly. Luckily the Kazekage was not devoid of humor, it was surely that which would save her.

Gaara picked up the message and read it in front of a still impassive Kakashi. When he had finished, he wrapped the parchment again and put it on his desk.

"You will tell the Hokage that I am going to look at the matter favorably, of course. I will send him my arrangements as soon as possible." he declared.

The ninjas of Konoha had no idea what the message contained, but they assumed that Tsunade, their Hokage, was asking Suna's ninjas for help if Akatsuki attacked the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Very good, Master Kazekage." said Kakashi, bowing slightly.

"You are my guests if you want to rest before you leave." Gaara said.

While Akemi seemed completely uninterested in what was happening around her and was looking out the window, he added:

"The night will soon fall; it is at this time that our village is the most beautiful."

This remark attracted Akemi's attention again.

"... Moreover, the desert is not safe at night, you should stay." he continued.

"Very well Master Kazekage, thank you very much." concluded Kakashi who preferred to cut short the conversation.

He went out, followed by Izumo and Akemi who looked at Gaara one last time with a smirk.

Akemi, all smiles, was already jubilant at the idea of the feast that would certainly reserve their host. As allies, they would be well treated, no doubt.

Izumo exchanged a look of exasperation with Kakashi, who could not hide his amusement from seeing her reaction. There were few moments when she looked so satisfied.

 


	2. Disorder and Denial

Kakashi and his team had the honor of dining at the Kazekage's table that night. To the chagrin of Kakashi and Izumo, Gaara had planned a place for Akemi next to his. The good news was that Gaara seemed to like Akemi but for how much longer? Moreover Akemi was very amused by the reactions of her companions which encouraged her to continue in the provocation. 

Succulent dishes were offered to them. Gaara seemed to enjoy their company and watched them eat more than he ate himself.

Akemi devoured everything within reach. Amazing vision given her fine constitution. Kakashi wondered how she could store all this food in such a small body. Luckily she compensated by a fast metabolism and exercise.  
Izumo, for his part, had never seen her eat anything else. He preferred, however, to make no comment about it, he did know she wouldn't react well to any evocation of their past relationship. He was already struggling to describe their current relationship as friendly despite his efforts so he did not want to ruin everything.

It saddened him not being able to express the feelings he still had about her. These insolent airs she gave herself, her lack of tact with people, he knew it was only a facade. Sentimentality is a weakness, she had told him one day, and she made it a point of honor not to flaunt it. But he knew her beyond these appearances; which had undoubtedly caused them to break, and she could not bear to make even a hint of it. It did not prevent him from staring at her stealthily though.  
To their relief, Akemi did not make any more unpleasant remarks than usual to the Kazekage who was apparently sensitive to her humor. At the end of the meal, Akemi had to eat half of her weight in food according to Izumo, but even so, she did not even look tired. They got up and wished goodnight to the Kazekage.

"Well, good night, we leave at dawn." Kakashi said, stretching.

"Very good, see you tomorrow!" Izumo retorted.

Akemi remained silent, which intrigued Kakashi who left them little freedom during the missions, so they did not have free quarters before going to sleep. It really angered Akemi to be treated like a kid when she was 24 years old, so she rebelled frequently; Kakashi had experienced it during this mission and another before. Only there, she seemed to have changed her strategy.

Once everyone in his room - and Kakashi checked - Akemi fled and went quietly through the window of her room. Kakashi did not lose a crumb from the edge of his own where he was reading quietly. Despite the height of the building, Akemi climbed the upper floors without blinking to reach the roof of the palace which gave an unobstructed view of the whole Village of Suna.

"Gaara was right, the village is even more beautiful at sunset ... the sun is not even lying down, but I should? Tss!" she said to herself, sitting on the edge of the roof.

She took a cigarette out of her green vest pocket and lit it to enjoy the first puff. Hours she was waiting for that but with Kakashi, no way to be quiet for two minutes.

"So that's really a disgusting habit!" exclaimed a familiar voice behind her.

Akemi cursed inwardly, lowering her head. Too bad, anyway she was no longer a kid; she could smoke if it suited her.  
Kakashi reached her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a deliberately ironic tone.

Akemi seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"What are YOU doing here? Aren't you supposed to set an example? No wonder I disobey..." she retorted brazenly.

"You have some nerve!" said Kakashi, holding back his laugh while sitting on the ledge to face her. "It was daring to talk about the biju to the Kazekage ... you could have got us into trouble."  
Akemi chuckled, shrugging. The sun had just touched the earth and its rays turned scarlet through the sandy air of the desert. Akemi for a moment appreciated the soft warmth on her face as she stared at the horizon. Soon, such blissful moments of quiet would become rare given the turn of events. 

The light nimbling her flamed up the light golden color of her eyes. That's what had caught Kakashi's attention; caught off guard by the sudden softness of her face. It took her a moment to realize that Kakashi was not saying anything. She glanced at him, thinking that he too was enjoying the moment, but in fact it was her he was staring at.

"What?" she asked Kakashi abruptly with a suspicious look on her face. 

"Eh?" He started, looking surprised for a split second. "...I... was wondering what Izumo could find attractive in you." he replied finally, regaining his apparent casualness.

"What?! What the fuck are you talking a... Do you have a problem with me or what?" Akemi exclaimed aggressively, bending her chest menacingly.  
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh... by all means, Akemi, go on." he said lightly, inviting her without hesitation to confront him.

She stared at him intensely for a moment, suddenly hesitant; she knew he was a formidable fighter, she finally released her shoulders.

"Are you chickening out?" he added, getting up.

At these words, Akemi slowly turned her head towards Kakashi with a defiant look. In a split second she threw away her cigarette and put herself on her feet with a roll back while executing a few quick mudras: 

"Ninpô: Repulsion!"

Her technique was directed against Kakashi's headband, which was thrown back violently, head first. The violence of the attack had detached his blindfold.  
He rolled on the ground and stopped a few meters away. Akemi maintained her attack position for a moment, expecting to retaliate as soon as he got up - which he would not fail to do because no one can defeat Kakashi at once, especially not a mere chunnin like her. But Kakashi did nothing; he remained face down, without any sign of conscience.

Akemi, still motionless, bit her lip, doubtful, and grimaced as she analyzed the situation.

"Fuck ... This can't be..." she mumbled.

Akemi, suspicious, advanced slowly. Having observed him in action once or twice before, she knew he was very clever. As she cautiously advanced towards him, the body suddenly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. She did not even have the time to realize the trap she had just fallen into that a wire came out of nowhere to wrap around her shoulders, then her arms to her thighs. Kakashi soon appeared jumping over the edge of the roof.

"He, he! ..." he said, triumphantly.

Akemi was stunned for a second then, realizing the ridiculousness of her situation, had a reflex that never failed to make her angry: she blushed.

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and, with his nonchalant gait, approached her. Akemi was boiling now to see him as phlegmatic as she was helpless. If she had had a sharingan at that moment, she would have used it without any hesitation. Only his gaze changed as he approached. He had now gone beyond the physical limit that she fixed on anyone she knew, or not.

He had just taken another step in the provocation; in addition to having totally ridiculed her for a simple curfew story that could not be more arbitrary, he was now standing close to her, so close that she could feel his weak breath through the fabric which covered almost the whole of his face. 

Akemi then hesitated between outrage and confusion as he held his face above hers, looking down at her. She tried for a moment to guess in his only visible eye what the exact nature of his intentions might be, while wondering why she was wondering that; it could only be to show her who was the boss.

So he was, undoubtedly, so what was he waiting for to reprimand her? Why did he look at her like that, half-closed eye scrutinizing her face, breathing almost restrained and so damn close?  
Why did she suddenly have the stupid impression that he was going to kiss her as he lowered his head slightly to her, approaching more and more of her mouth and ... everything stopped.

He remained as if frozen a few millimeters from her. 

Akemi could not take her eyes off his face – is he going to... – though she felt herself dying of embarrassment, imagining her cheeks so scarlet that he himself must feel the heat that emanated from them.   
The eye that scrutinized her suddenly closed, wrinkled by the smile that he emitted under his mask. She barely had time to understand – you teasing bastard! – before, in a fluid and rapid movement, he bends his knees, drawing Akemi's   
belly against his shoulder, and raises her like a carpet. Akemi went from troubled to hysterical.

"But ... what ... Kakashi! Let me down!" she yelled.

Kakashi did not pay any attention to her and jumped from the roof with her on his shoulder, still screaming with rage to be humiliated like that. How could she be so naive?

He easily reached the edge of the window of Akemi's room, entered it and threw her on the bed as delicately as a sack of rice. Akemi wriggled like a worm but could not make any coherent movement.

"There, I'm sure you will not move from here now!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"What? ... Are you going to leave me like this? You can't ..."

Akemi did not have time to finish her sentence; Kakashi had already left by where he had entered. He returned to his own room but could still hear Akemi's howls, whose sound volume exceeded the limits of propriety. He listened to her for a moment, pestering the whole world, and found himself smiling, thinking back to her flushed face and her vexed expression. Her face so soft in reality. 

He wondered why he had never seen it that way before, or had he only really looked? A shiver shook him. Why was he thinking of that? What was he doing up there with her? Was it worthy of a team leader? Then, in a jolt of consciousness, he decided that nothing had happened on the roof anyway, nothing that could lead to confusion, no, really nothing.

At sunrise, as a pale light flooded the building and its openwork corridors, Izumo was surprised not to see Akemi join them in the hallway.

"Kakashi, where is Akemi?"

"Oh ... you'll have to wake her up, I think Izumo ..."

"Ah really?" he replied, puzzled, "Well, if I must ..."

He hesitated a moment before the closed door, no sound reached him. He hoped she would not jump on him for venturing into her space; she was far from pleasant in the morning and needed very little reason to get upset, much like the rest of the day.

Nevertheless, Izumo knocked on the door but did not get an answer. He called her but still nothing, so he entered. The room was in considerable disorder, the little furniture had been knocked down. 

As for Akemi, she had visibly fallen off the bed and was asleep beside her sheet strewn on the ground. Izumo chuckled at seeing her like that, her whole body tied and a gnarled mass of orange hair as her head. He grabbed a kunaï and cut the thread. He leaned over her face:

"Akemi ..." he whispered.

She opened an eye.

"Looks like someone has finally found a way to keep you quiet..." he chuckled in front of her face.

Realizing she was free, she jumped up, regaining her spirits and frantically massaging her numb limbs. Almost immediately, the lost and sleepy air on her face gave way to an expression of cold anger.  
Izumo had recognized Kakashi's technique for restraining her and, imagining what had happened the night before, he thought it best to intervene before she made a mistake.

"Well ... we're leaving ..." stammered Izumo, trying to block her exit.

She walked around him without a glance and stormed out of the room. Kakashi, with his hands in his pockets, was standing in the corridor and admiring the landscape through the window, he was hardly whistling. On seeing him, Akemi's first reflex was to rush at him, but as she lifted her foot to take the first step, she froze. 

For a moment she did not understand her own hesitation, and then her poor performance of the day before came back to her mind. But there was something else that held her back, she felt it well. Kakashi turned around and faced her. His attitude was not unusual, his eyes dull, his posture nonchalant, and yet her stomach was tied at the sight of his face. The kiss ... I thought he was going to... She decided that it would be wise to disappear before her discomfort became as visible as the day before, and to the amazement of the audience, she went straight into the corridor and went down the stairs, without a word.

"Uh ... what just happened?" Izumo asked, staring down the stairs hurtled by Akemi.

"…No idea." Kakashi shrugged.

Whatever happened with Kakashi, Izumo knew that Akemi was not the type to let go when she had something to say to someone. Hence his astonishment. Another mystery as she alone had the secret; Izumo resigned himself once again to understand nothing.

"Okay, let's go," Kakashi ordered.

Kakashi and Izumo did not find Akemi until they arrived at the entrance of the village of Suna. She was out of breath, yet the Kazekage's palace was not so far away. She had had an irrepressible desire to run but stopped there when she saw   
the Kazekage arriving to greet them.

They left the village, but Akemi's silence was beginning to worry Izumo, while Kakashi, like her, carefully avoided her eyes. So it was in a strangely heavy silence that they set out for Konoha.

Running was what she did when she needed to think, or not to think. She was dying for it at the time, especially to avoid asking herself if she would ever talk to Kakashi again without throwing up on him. 

Of all the injuries she had sustained during the fighting, none had reached this degree of seriousness for her. The embarrassment was the worst punishment, only she did not understand why she felt so. She had kissed other guys before, she had never made a fuss of it, while, technically, nothing had happened on this roof ... if not the intention. He almost kissed her and there she was waiting for it, blushing like a teenager.

Things were not supposed to get personal with Kakashi, she had never meant to even if in a corner of her mind she knew she wasn't insensitive to the man. That's what troubled her the most; she secretly wanted it to happen and it showed; now he knew of her attraction because she wasn't able to hide it properly and she would never be able to work with him again. Stupid girl...

The team headed east at a good pace. When they crossed the border of the Land of the Rivers the afternoon was already engaged. The weather was clear and sunny as it was common in the middle of the summer. 

Despite the heat and hunger that began to be felt in the stomachs, neither Kakashi nor Akemi seemed inclined to stop. The most astonishing thing was that she had not shown any emotion as she approached midday, as she still put a lot of importance on her three meals a day minimum. Without blinking, she ran, concentrated on her road as if at any moment an obstacle could arise. 

Kakashi did the same, and still no word exchanged, no joke, no provocation. Izumo was now sure, something was happening, or rather, had happened, between Kakashi and his teammate, but it was not easy for him to talk with either, because of a bad temper for one, and hierarchy for the other.

The day began to decline as they approached the border between the Land of the Rivers and the Land of Fire. Suddenly, a word, a phrase even, came out of Kakashi's mouth:

"We'll stop here for the night."

It was brief but intense for Izumo who was struggling to feel his legs, unlike his belly.

They stopped dead. They had reached a plain lined with bushy shrubs near a river. While Kakashi and Akemi were busy setting their bunks at a safe distance from each other, Izumo did not drag and lit a fire to prepare the meal with the provisions the Kazekage had offered them for the return.

"It's reaaady!" exclaimed Izumo, "finally, I'm so hungry!"

Izumo settled down by the fire and began to serve the bowls of a mixture of which he had the secret. Akemi and Kakashi settled in turn on both sides of Izumo. Despite all the legendary calm that Izumo could show, this situation was starting to annoy him. He grabbed a bowl and raised it in front of him. Akemi reached to grab the bowl. Without looking, Kakashi tried to grab it too.

Feeling a resistance he looked up and realized that Akemi and he were fighting over the same bowl. Izumo no longer held it and greedily emptied his while keeping an eye on the two quibbles that accompanied him.  
Kakashi and Akemi finally exchanged glances. Kakashi opened a rounded eye as Akemi felt red flush again - luckily it was dark then- and his belly tied like that morning. Reflexively she withdrew her hand and Kakashi, not having ensured his grip, could not hold the bowl full that fell to the ground with a small sound of bamboo. The mixture was abundantly spread on the ground.

Akemi watched the scene as if in slow motion, then jumped up, realizing the extent of her stupidity, and went to bed without a word.  
Kakashi, initially embarrassed by the situation, took a peeved expression, according to what Izumo could decipher from his expressions with three quarters of his masked face. The chunnin had not moved and while looking at his almost empty bowl of food, he said with a contrite air:

"You want me to leave you two alone maybe ..."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi replied, eyebrow raised.

"I don't know ... you tell me ..." Izumo said, a voice heavy with innuendo.

"I don't see…"

"She's mad at you I think ... it looks serious ..."

"Must be ... because of last night. She disobeyed so ..." Kakashi said evasively.

"... Ah yes ... it looks like it's more serious than just that though ..." Izumo retorted, not convinced.

"You know her well. Are you close?" Kakashi asked, insidiously trying to divert the conversation by feigning ignorance.

"Mmm ... yes, a little, well, I think ... I hope ..." he sighed. "I don't know actually, we've been together for a while but it's over now, I'm trying to keep in touch, good contact."

"It must not be easy, I guess ..." Kakashi mumbled.

"No, not much is easy with her, but ... I like her." Izumo shrugged as if revealing he couldn't help it

"Yes, I'm sure it's reciprocal ..." Kakashi said, with little conviction anyway, the important thing being to bury the subject.

"What's certain is that she's really weird today..." Izumo insisted.

"It will be better tomorrow! Goodnight Izumo." Kakashi hastily said, getting up, not wanting to leave Izumo the opportunity to continue.

He went to his improvised bed and lay down. He glanced to his right. In the dim glow of the fire he could perceive the form of Akemi, rolled in her blanket. He had agreed that nothing had happened, so why this trouble between them, why couldn't he look at her in the eyes? She had not reacted as he thought; he had expected her to take revenge, to make him live a hell all day. Instead, she seemed unable to speak to him. 

Maybe they should talk about it, to break the abscess but was he ready to face his true feelings? If he was sincere with himself, he would have to confess that what didn't happen still meant something for him...and for her?  
He was starting to get lost in the middle of all these questions. He was so sure of himself the day before, when he was alone. He absolutely had to empty his head otherwise sleep would never reach him. Nevertheless, the night seemed very short.


	3. Loneliness and Devastation

Madara's intentions were sometimes obscure, even for Pain. He thought they were both pursuing the same goal, but at times he was not so sure. Like there, he was heading to Konoha, the village where he would eventually hit the goal by capturing Kyuubi, and yet he should not do anything that time.

Instead, he had to look for a woman to fill Madara's bed, a man certainly so old that such thoughts should not even cross his mind.

It was almost provocative, why did she have to come from Konoha absolutely? Or why did she have to be a kunoichi? How important could it be after all, he needed only a uterus.

Not content with entrusting him with an absurd mission, he also needed to be demanding. Fortunately, no particular physical criterion was required, it would be enough for him to find a kunoichi neither too young, nor too old, and if possible, whose absence would not be too noticed, because if he was to be identified, the Hokage would quickly have everything analyzed about him. There was no question of spoiling the surprise effect of the day he would attack Konoha.

Although he did not go unnoticed with his many piercings adorning his face, he managed to enter Konoha without any particular difficulty, posing as a young traveler making a stop in Konoha.

Kakashi and his team arrived in Konoha the next day in the middle of the afternoon. The day was rough after a bad night of reflection, only Izumo seemed to have kept a semblance of form.

Akemi only dreamed of taking a bath and a hot and hearty meal, but instead she had to report back to the Hokage. With all the bad will she was capable of, ostensibly displayed on her face, she walked through the village invaded by onlookers all out on this day of rest.

"Fucking crowded place ..." she mumbled annoyingly.

Kakashi and Izumo looked at her with the same movement of the head. Two days she had not said a word and there she was, grumbling. Izumo sighed.

"Akemi, you could be happy, you came back alive in your village and having accomplished your mission successfully, you even made friends with a foreign power!" Izumo exclaimed with a sarcastic smile.

Realizing that she had been thinking aloud, she scowled and slowed down to find herself behind her teammates, which would avoid the crossings of embarrassed looks. "Quick, get it over with ..." she said, quietly this time.

Akemi was tired of this trip and had only one desire; to be alone. As she rolled her eyes, sighing to relax the muscles in her neck, she met the gaze of a man who held her attention; although on the other side of the crowded street he seemed to be staring at her.

In addition, he had bright orange hair, almost like her own, which snatched a half smile on her face because this color was rare. Also, his face was adorned with black dots.

He had a very strange appearance and a hard look, or an absent one, she could not say. Akemi looked around to make sure he did not set someone close to her but there was no one still in this street. She looked at him again but he was no longer there. She searched for an instant around her but he had vanished. She told herself that the guards at the entrance of the village were really wankers, because she would never have let him enter Konoha, he looked way too weird.

The report was quickly dispatched; after all, there was not much to say since the mission was successful. Only Kakashi spoke, ignoring the details that might have tarnished the reputation of Akemi in the eyes of Tsunade who did not carry her especially in her heart. Nothing personal, however, only the cynical attitude of Akemi annoyed the Hokage who usually preferred not to speak to her directly to avoid friction.

However, she did not hesitate to send her on a mission; despite everything she was good at Doton techniques, quick and efficient in combat, a good support in short. Her teammates, on the other side, were rarely thrilled to have her around during missions. Tsunade had noticed that her previous assignment with Kakashi had gone pretty well, so when she had to build a team for that mission, she did not hesitate, adding Izumo because he was proficient in water techniques and apparently knew how to deal with her.

The Hokage released them. The afternoon was nearly over; the sun was starting to set. Arriving outside, Kakashi paused for a moment; the slightly orange light reminded him of the unfortunate exchange with Akemi two days earlier. He turned around and she stopped at his look upon her. They stared at each other for a moment without saying anything. Izumo stopped to watch the scene, hoping to finally understand what was going on between those two.

At the insistence of his gaze, Akemi realized that he was waiting for something from her. Her belly tightened again and panic threatened to invade her still.

"Well... see ya'." It was all she managed to formulate without stammering, before going away with a quick step.

Izumo looked at Kakashi who looked thoughtful before he turned around and left too.

"See you later, Izumo." He let go without turning around.

"Yes, see you later." he hesitated, " _But what's going on here?"_

 

"At last: alone!" Akemi sighed, immersed in the bathtub in her bathroom filled with steam. From the time she waited for it, she took advantage of it for more than an hour, until the water began to really cool down.

She dressed and then dried and smoothed her hair before going out. It was mild that night. Izumo had wanted to invite her to eat with him but she refused, claiming a well deserved rest, but in truth she did not want to stay at home and decided to eat alone in town.

Once satiated, she continued to wander through the village, which was gradually emptying as the night progressed.

Lighting a cigarette, she went to the Konoha cemetery, without noticing the stranger who followed her from far away to avoid being spotted. At the cemetery she walked between the tombs for a moment. She stopped near a group of modest-looking gravestones, a little apart from the others, and sat on the ground near them. She did not notice either Kakashi coming down the stairs leading to the torch of ninjas missing in action.

Before turning to the path leading to the exit of the cemetery he saw her far to his left. Some trees masked him and he did not move when he recognized her under the flickering glow of torches around. He was amazed to see her in such a place, but thinking of it for a moment, it was true that he knew nothing of her life.

Most of the people were talking to their missing ones. But Akemi did not feel any relief talking to a stone stele overhanging bones, so she stood there, silent; it was a time she gave herself to think only of those she had lost.

After a few minutes, she got up and went back to the village. Driven by curiosity, Kakashi took the opportunity to visit the graves that Akemi had just left. The stele were illegible, but a granite plaque had been placed in the middle of the five tombs where the inscription "CLAN KISHIRO" was inscribed with a date, the plaque seemed more recent than the tombs.

"The Kishiro Clan? I did not know that Akemi belonged to a clan ..." Kakashi reflected. "This date ... is the village attack by Kyuubi; 17 years ago ..."

Kakashi wondered why their names had not been engraved on the war memorial, the flame of the ninjas, as for all those who perished in the fight against the nine-tailed demon.

As she was returning home, Pain was still on her feet. This girl met the criteria dictated by Madara. The fact that she did not look like him at all was his own little personal revenge. By her appearance, she could not be more different from the idea he had of a woman of the Uchiha clan; he hoped that Madara would not be too happy about his find.

Akemi found the nights always too short but being a kunoichi of Konoha by choice, she was forced to a proper lifestyle and daily training. She submitted to workouts that would have tired more than a little by looking at her. She made no difference between a weekday and a weekend, just as the fact that she had returned from the mission the night before would not stop her from doing as usual.

She pulled herself out of bed and put on her workout clothes: electric blue shorts with a white hooded vest emblazoned with the red spiral of Konoha's ninjas on the back. She obviously did not forget her weapons, the throwing knives at her thigh, the shurikens and kunaïs in the pouch hanging from her waist.

She left her apartment and began a jog. It was still early; a slight fine haze still covered the horizon and paled the sun.

It was a good day, she hoped not to have to go on a mission right away and enjoy a bit of good weather. In any case, she did not think of leaving with Kakashi any time soon - which was about the same as not starting at all - because, if her impressions were good, she had lost all professional credibility with him.

In time, she would eventually forget this story with the certainty that he would do the same if it was not already. Perhaps he had already forgotten ... it was even worse when she was there to grind guts every time she thought of it, he may not even understand why she acted like a shy girl.

Akemi was already trotting for a little while when she came out of her thoughts. She walked a few streets to lead to the outskirts of Konoha. At a steady pace she reached the edge of the forest and went along to reach a plain where the ninjas sometimes trained. Akemi rarely came to train there; she preferred to leave the village because her earth techniques usually killed the landscape.

But there she especially wanted to confront the one who had been following her since the day before and who was starting to annoy her. By skirting the forest, he would be obliged to expose himself to continue to follow her.

When Pain skirted the forest in his turn he did not see her, she was gone. Perplexed, he glanced around; she could not possibly have sown him. Suddenly two hands came out of the ground, grabbed his ankles and pulled him until only his head protruded.

A cloud of dust rose around Pain who did not tickle and waited for it to dissipate. As the cloud fell, no one was in his field of vision, but a voice came from behind him.

"What do you want, colander?" she asked in an icy tone.

"So you had spotted me?" he replied without a movement, phlegmatic.

"Such a mop, it does not grow on trees around here!" she retorted openly sarcastically.

Pain remained silent for a moment, he seemed to think.

"You are unpleasant." he said in a monotone voice.

This man was surprisingly calm for someone who had just been trapped, buried up to his neck in the ground; he was not even looking for the person whose voice came from behind his back.

A ninja, without a doubt, experienced. The only question was, why did he follow her? She walked away a little from Pain and circled him to face him at a safe distance. He did indeed display a quite serene, or rather expressionless face.

His eyes were really strange, much stranger than all the piercings he had on his face, his clear pupils gave him an inhuman glance.

"Mmm ... yeah, I'm often told. What do you want?" she said, bending her head suspiciously.

"You'll come with me." he replied without emotion.

Akemi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Well asked like that ... I can only refuse! We hardly know each other, you see ..." she said with a teasing pout.

Pain did not understand the joke, and he did not care. She would be fine for what Madara wanted to do, but it seemed she would not accompany him willingly.

With a bound, Pain ejected from the ground and landed just in front of the hole where he was a few seconds earlier. Akemi did not move, she was going to be entitled to training for two that morning.

"Who are you?" Akemi asked with a smirk.

"I am Pain."

"Well, Pain, it is clear that we will have to fight each other because our intentions diverge, what you say?" resumed Akemi, her smirk spreading as she caressed nonchalantly the knives on her thigh.

"I agree." simply replied her assailant.

Akemi's face suddenly became serious and she made a series of quick signs with her hands:

"Doton - Yomi Numa!"

The floor under Pain's feet suddenly became loose and quickly moistened; soon it was a pool of mud that grew around him and in which he immediately sank. Although he did not move at all, the pond totally engulfed him in a few seconds and he disappeared into the mud.

Akemi remained on alert; this Pain looked very quiet again for someone about to drown. Suddenly she heard a dynamo sound emerging from nowhere and the pond exploded literally, throwing mud in all directions.

Akemi barely had time to protect her face so as not to be blinded when the mud covered her clothes. Pain then rose from the gaping hole he had just created in the ground, as if his feet were pushing back the ground without any effort.

Akemi was not distracted and scolded: "Katon - Karyuu Endan!" and then began to spit a huge flames fire directly on Pain before he touched the ground.

"I got you ..." she whispered, blowing a thin stream of smoke.

Pain ejected from the fire in extremis as his hair began to scorch. Landing on the ground, he grabbed a long, black metal stick. It seemed to Akemi that he had taken it out of his hand because he had done it with an extremely fast and fluid gesture. He raised his arm and threw it towards Akemi who saw it arrive on her with incredible strength and speed.

"Ninpo Repulsion!" She shouted just in time to return the spear where it came from.

Taking advantage of the short time allowing the enemy to analyze what she had done, she seized two kunaïs and threw them at Pain. The latter obviously had very good analytical abilities because he immediately retorted by saying: "Shinra Tensei!"

The sound of dynamo was triggered again and a kind of wave emanated from his body sending the spear and kunai of Akemi flutter several meters away. He had not performed any mudra. This technique resembled her own magnetism-based repulsive technique, effective only on metal objects. However, the sounds were identical to those emanating from the pond in which he was engulfed before exploding. Magnetism had nothing to do with it.

" _Who's this guy?_ " Akemi thought. He was fighting in a strangely detached and his movements and techniques seemed to require no particular effort. As she felt her strength diminish gradually, he, however, had not sweated a drop; a hint of panic began to invade her.

"And you want to take me where exactly, shithead?" she asked, trying to hide her annoyance.

"You'll know soon enough." He retorted without emotion.

His steadiness struck her. If at least he was stinking of self-confidence, Akemi would have known how to handle it, but his coldness was destabilizing and began to seriously worry her for the continuation of the events.

She had to pull herself together, maybe he was not as strong as he looked, and maybe his calm look was feigned to give the impression that he had more surprises in store. Akemi concentrated and then performed a new technique:

"Doton - Doryuu Katsu! She shouted, hitting the ground with the palm of her hand.

The earth began to shake, and then a rift burst from beneath her hand, grew larger, and stretched out at great speed, running toward Pain, tearing the earth in two.

With a bound, Pain avoided the ditch that opened under his feet. She focused her chakra again in her hand to direct the flow in the direction of her assailant. The rift started and walked towards him, tearing the floor with a deafening noise and following him until he slowed his jump and fell inside.

Akemi ran her chakra over the area where Pain had fallen; the earth stirred, rose, and fell as if a hand was kneading it over and over again. Nobody could survive such treatment, no human at least.

Akemi straightened up, still tense and sweaty. Her breathing was fast and panting. She watched for a long time the area where the kneaded earth covered her enemy. She hesitated to rejoice despite the absence of movement; if Pain had risen again she would not have held out very long, she was soon running out of chakra.

Time passed and everything around her remained motionless.

She must face the facts; he was knocked out at worst, dead at best. Akemi would have liked to go back home and take a shower but this bloody professional conscience whispered in her ear that the thing to do was to report to the Hokage before she learned from anyone else that the plain now housed the body of an unknown ninja.

She sighed and took a step toward the forest when a series of dull noises abruptly interrupted her; several black stems shot out of the ground simultaneously, thrown in her direction. Seeing them out of the corner of her eye, Akemi threw herself on the side and rolled on the ground just in time; one of the spears had nearly pierced her stomach. It had grazed her belly before planting deep in the ground.

She rolled again and took the momentum to get up as soon as possible but Pain was already standing over her, his body intact. Akemi opened wide stupefied eyes.

"That's enough," he said with a vague hint of annoyance in his voice, "Shinra Tensei!"

Once again, Pain's technique emitted waves that pushed her against the ground. This time it was so close to her that her body sank a few inches into the dirt.

Mixed with this deafening sound, Akemi screamed in pain, feeling like her flesh was going to leave her bones under the pressure. Once the waves stopped Akemi found the strength to perform her repulsive technique, exhausting her last chakra reserves.

She did not think anymore, it was instinct. The most important thing was to repulse him; she would find another way to overcome this enemy. Akemi directed the magnetism towards Pain's face, still strangely impassive.

The latter was ejected back and rolled on the ground a few meters further. She tried to get up but it seemed he was no longer in the mood to let her have fun. He was already on his feet and holding out his hands in front of him, his palms rose towards Akemi, and said:

"Banshō Tenin."

Akemi expected dynamo noise but this time the noise was different, as reversed; this time she was attracted to Pain. She was lifted from the ground with such power that she didn't find the strength to hold on to something, and pointed in the air, her trajectory following that which Pain realized with his hands.

Pain raised his hands to the sky; sending the kunoichi through the air, then suddenly lowered them, bringing them back to him. Akemi felt the attraction pulling her body to the ground at breakneck speed, but no sooner had she the time to realize that she landed hard on the ground like a disjointed doll, right at the feet of Pain.

She heard several bones creak; she clearly identified the rolling of a dislocated shoulder and the dry sound of the ribs that break like the thin branches of a cherry tree.

Her brain had certainly anticipated what her consciousness could endure since she felt no pain.

The furtive image of Suna's sunset appeared to her as she lay at Pain's feet, helpless. " _That's it."_ she said to herself, comforted at the thought that this was the last image that would accompany her in death.

Pain looked down at his opponent; still conscious. He then threw out a new black spear from his hand, which he waved over Akemi and stabbed it violently in her left shoulder.

She was pierced right through and literally nailed to the ground. This time she had not seen it coming; an electric shock ran through her body and she screamed in pain.

"You finally give in ... I'll tell him you tried." Declared Pain.

She did not hear it. The slenderness in her shoulder and the sensation that all her bones had broken in her body made her suffer martyrdom; she fell unconscious.

The ninja pulled the spear stuck into Akemi's shoulder with a sharp blow. He watched her for a moment. She was covered with dried mud and visible scratches through her torn clothes. Blood flowed from her mouth and gaping hole in her shoulder, abundantly. Despite her pitiful state, the image she sent back was unusual, full of life, her flaming hair spread around her stained and bruised face.

"She will not please Madara." he thought, "too insolent, too combative. Perfect."

He looked around him, the plain was devastated, the earth disemboweled. The grass growing there was no more, there were only trenches, holes and mud.

Surely, all this fuss would alert someone, it was better not to hang out in the corner. Pain grabbed Akemi and put her on his shoulder. He lifted himself from the ground and, levitating, moved away from Konoha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Disarray and amazement

Ame; his city of peace.

He had reached his tower, the tower overlooking his city, from which he admired his landscape.

He did not have the habit of transporting the bodies himself, nor of depositing them on the dissection tables where the cold metal cast gloomy reflections on their pale skin.

She was still alive, that astonished him. She had gradually emptied of her blood all along the journey; the shreds of her clothes could no longer hold the life that escaped her. The liquid had disgorged then forming purple and sticky streaks on his back. Perhaps her heart was beating only reflexively, he could not tell what could hang such an insignificant being to life.

Of all the absurdities of which humanity was capable, the one he understood the least was this desire to cling to a useless and painful life. Above this table he wondered if he would have been able to bear all that. If he had not had this goal much more important than his own existence, perhaps he would have let himself die of sorrow. But what did she have?

He did not know how but Madara always knew when he was there and where he was, which caused, as usual, his arrival in the room in the minutes that followed. The lamp overhanging the table lit up, which took the room out of the darkness and Pain out of its contemplation.

"What is this?" Madara hissed between his teeth. At first sight there was only an inanimate body before his eyes; stained with mud and blood. "She's dead."

Impassive face and eyes fixed on the body on the table, Pain retorted: "Not yet."

A heavy sigh under the mask of Madara betrayed his annoyance at the conciseness of his comrade.

"You damaged her, it looks like she did not make it easy for you ..." the Uchiha insisted bitterly.

Pain raised cold eyes to him as he tilted his head to the side in mockery.

"Is she for you ... or for Itachi?" questioned the orange headed ninja in his usual dull voice.

Madara paused before returning to a more upright stance. He clenched his teeth under his mask; once again Pain was nothing more than a cold soul in a corpse, he wouldn't play along.

"You're very curious all of a sudden ..." he replied.

"I was wondering if you still had the ability to procreate." Elaborated Pain without flinching.

"It's very kind of you to worry about the success of my business" he said ironically, "there will be descendants; the means do not matter to you."

Madara seemed ready for anything to achieve his ends; even the vision of this half-dead woman did not seem to repel him. Given her condition, her survival was not guaranteed.

Despite this, Madara did not attempt to send Pain to Konoha again, which he would have categorically refused anyway. If she survived, he would be satisfied with her.

 

* * *

 

Izumo had traveled all over Konoha to the Ninja Academy, which he ran down the halls, not quite sure where to go, when he came across Kakashi reading on a bench near a window. At his sight Kakashi looked up from his book, intrigued by his attitude.

"Did you lose something?" he asked Izumo, eyebrow raised.

"Um ... yes," Izumo gasped, "I ... did you see Akemi?"

"You lost Akemi? ..." Kakashi joked.

Izumo shook his head, sighing, his eyes blank. He seemed anxious and thought about places he had not inspected yet.

"What's going on Izumo?" Kakashi asked seriously, worried by his expression.

"Well, I've been knocking on her door several times but she does not answer me ... I'm used to it, she just ignores me sometimes so I did not worry at first, but now ... Several days that I have no news and I have not seen her ... I can't find her anywhere ... "Izumo explained nervously scratching his head.

"... Mmm," Kakashi thought, frowning. "I think there's nothing to worry about, maybe she just needs to isolate herself ..." he said as naturally as he could. The idea that he may be behind this behavior was hammering his mind but he could not decently talk about it.

"Not so long," Izumo snapped, "it's been almost a week since we came back from mission and I have not seen her since ..." he sighed helplessly.

Kakashi had seen her that very evening but he kept himself from talking about it too. He had hoped that she would take the first step to calm the tension between them, but as the days went by, he had assumed that she might not give it so much importance.

"Hey Kakashi!" a voice called behind him.

"Yes, Matsuo?" replied the grey-haired ninja, turning around.

"Have you been training on the plain near the forest lately?" asked the jonin.

"Not recently. Why?"

"Well, I don't know who did but he did not go smoothly! It looks like a battlefield, all the land is returned!" exclaimed Matsuo.

Izumo froze for a few seconds with wide eyes.

"... The earth ..." he murmured in a white voice.

Kakashi's question remained unresolved while Izumo disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. Kakashi and Matsuo exchanged a questioning look. Izumo seemed to believe there was a connection between Akemi and this place. The mention of the land reminded him of Akemi's techniques, but Izumo's concern made him perplexed.

In a few seconds Kakashi got up and left his seat in pursuit of Izumo. Matsuo remained alone with his questions in turn.

Izumo was speeding towards the plain, jumping over the roofs to avoid detours that would waste time. He was soon caught by Kakashi.

"What is it Izumo, what does it have to do with Akemi?"

"Hey, can I know what's going on?" shouted Matsuo, who was also following behind them.

"It's Akemi ... she likes to run there ..." Izumo said without slowing down.

"What? Akemi Kishiro?!" exclaimed Matsuo incredulously.

Kakashi did not look up and kept his pace. He was in no position to judge the worrying nature of Akemi's absence, but Izumo was not used to panic for no reason and that was enough to make him anxious.

Arriving at the edge of the forest they stopped to observe the places. The plain was unrecognizable.

Izumo felt his heart tighten slightly but managed to keep a semblance of calm; nothing proved for the moment that Akemi passed through there.

Kakashi swept the plain with his eyes; at first there did not seem to be any soul living in this place. His attention was attracted by strange bars planted in the ground scattered over the plain. He approached one of them while Matsuo watched as he scratched his head, still not understanding what Akemi was doing in the story.

Izumo did not move. His intuition dictated that something was wrong and he was afraid to find something that would confirm it.

Kakashi took a quick turn and stopped as he watched the ground.

"There was a fight here ..." he said in the most neutral way possible.

Matsuo rushed towards him, moved by curiosity.

Izumo felt his throat dry out more and had to do it several times before he managed to replenish a semblance of saliva in his mouth. He swallowed it painfully and then decided to go see the object of Kakashi's remark.

The latter was standing in front of what must have been a puddle of fresh blood a few days before, with a very sharp circular hole about twenty centimeters deep in his center, also covered with dried blood.

Kakashi watched Izumo, who was holding his breath, trying to think, his eyes swinging from side to side looking at the floor. He looked up and looked around, but what he saw around him looked desperately familiar.

"Kakashi ... I think she was here ... this hole there ... it's the limbo marshes, one of her techniques ... She never uses it without reason because it requires a lot of chakra ... And here, all these trenches ... She knows how to do that, it is the tectonic fracture, it is particularly difficult because it requires a lot of concentration and she rarely does it, she would never have done this technique in training, not with this magnitude ..." Debited Izumo quickly, his face pale and his voice betraying the panic that was seizing him.

"... look, it looks like the break was going in a very specific direction ..." Kakashi remarked calmly, though the uncertainty was gaining him now.

"But ... you can't be serious ... why all this fuss about her?!" exclaimed Matsuo incredulously.

"She has disappeared, Matsuo! Nobody has seen her for a week!" exclaimed Izumo, annoyed.

Kakashi noticed one of the strange black metal sticks near the blood pool, which was also bloody. Maybe there was really something to worry about in the end.

"... she ... something happened to her, Kakashi ..." Izumo said, his voice shaking.

"What?!" exclaimed Matsuo, "like what, kidnapped? What interest would there be in taking her away?" he continued ironically.

"Shut up!" Izumo yelled with an angry look, clenching his fists. Matsuo suddenly stepped back as Izumo turned to him but Kakashi held him back with one hand.

"That's enough! Izumo, take me to her house, we'll check that she's not there, and if anyone has attacked a Konoha ninja, there's no time to lose."

He then totally faced Izumo.

"She did not die Izumo, otherwise her body would be here." He affirmed.

He was really trying to believe what he was saying at that moment. She had visibly defended herself with all her might, with techniques that he had never seen her perform during their joint missions. This led him to think that her opponent must have been really hostile.

He still had to be clear but it was already too many coincidences. He was beginning to wonder if he would not have done better to take his courage in both hands and go to see her that night at the cemetery, perhaps he would have seen or felt that something was wrong. Anyway, it was a bad time to dwell on the past.

_We must find her..._

So saying, he suddenly felt the urge to see her, to talk to her. After all, they had things to say to each other, an ongoing affair to clarify. It could not end like that.

 

* * *

 

Muffled sounds buzzed in her ears. This cocoon of warm opacity was her own body that enveloped and restrained her mind, floating somewhere within it.

In her fluctuating consciousness, she felt no weight, no consistency around her, as if all matter had disappeared. Akemi did not realize yet that some of her senses were lacking.

"Can she get up?"

A dull voice was heard, grave and penetrating.

"She is still fragile but she can be transported if you wish Master."

A diffuse heat was felt near her, but the darkness was too obscure, too heavy to be braved by her eyelids.

Madara watched his captive. Her hobbled limbs held back by ties to the bed she lay on, and her bandaged body did not augur well for her. And yet, he could feel that inside this body, bruised and numb by drugs, a small spark was already crackling, trying to rekindle the flame that would burn again there soon.

"Yes, I'll take her away, I lost enough time."

"Good, Master, I'm preparing her for you."

He scanned her face for a moment. Her slightly quivering eyelids betrayed the resumption of her cerebral activity, her consciousness slowly reappearing.

She was not perfect but she was not rude to watch. The gaudy color of her hair and the tan of her skin gave her the exotic airs of the land of lightning, but her unwavering willingness to survive proved her origin. He would probably have to break her first to submit her to his will; to stifle any hope of freedom. This prospect delighted him almost in spite of himself.

"Mmm ... yes ... you should do the trick eventually ..." he murmured softly in her ear.

* * *

 

Akemi felt like she had slept for months.

Realizing the clarity of this thought in her mind, she suddenly opened her eyes. At first blind, it took a few moments for her vision to stabilize and adapt to the darkness of the place.

Around her, it looked like a bedroom in a house she did not know. The only source of light came from a window obstructed by curtains.

She then lingered on her condition. Only her head was mobile. As she tried to move, she managed to feel the presence of all her limbs, slightly painful, stiff, but realized that she was not free of her movements.

Her arms were hobbled by leather straps, long enough to only allow her to scratch her thighs.

Under the sheet that covered her, she tried to lift her legs but her feet were also restrained. Looking down at her body, she saw a bandage covering her chest through the opening of the collar of the shirt she was wearing.

She was thirsty, her mouth and throat were dry, and there was only silence around her.

"Is there anyone?" Her voice did not wear, too hoarse. She cleared her throat painfully and screamed again.

"Hey, I'm thirsty!"

She did not really remember how she ended up there. She had obviously been hurt, but all that came to mind was a pierced orange-haired man, but she could not see what connection he had with her. Maybe he had done that to her, although she did not know exactly what she had suffered.

Her shoulder was sometimes painful when she moved her arm, and her muscles aching from lack of activity, but she could not really judge because the bonds that held her to her bed were far too short.

Strangely, she was not worried beyond measure. After all, what could they want from her; she knew nothing, she was nothing. It was definitely a mistake. By realizing it they had to treat her and she was going to be released soon, that was certain.

"Hey, oh !" she resumed.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed behind the door of the room; a key turned in the lock and the door opened. A flood of white light blinded Akemi, who could only make out two silhouettes. She tried to hide her eyes with her hand but the strap was too short and her eyelids lowered unwillingly. As the strangers approached, her eyes eventually shifted to clarity and her view became sharper.

There was a man wearing a weird mask on his face and a black dress dotted with red spots.

She then saw the man who accompanied him, taller; he also wore this horrible black dress. Looking more closely, the red spots formed clouds. His face was juvenile, strangely smooth and inexpressive.

Suddenly a sharp pain crossed her shoulder when she met his eyes. Her face distorted into a sore grin and her stomach revolted as she reminded unpleasant sensations, the scent of earth and blood, and the horrifying sound of crunching bones.

She tugged on her ties to hold her hands to her temples, which seemed about to explode, but the ties held her once more and she screamed helplessly and frustrated as she threw herself back on the bed. It was him who had done that to her; Pain.

"Who are you?" She articulated painfully despite the nausea. Drops of sweat ran down her temples. "What do you want from me?"

He did not say anything. In fact, it seemed to Akemi that he was not thinking of anything either, as if he had nothing to do with her condition. He stared at her without any particular expression; she could just as easily have been a wall.

He was as indecipherable as the masked man next to him. The latter was standing motionless as well, but it was he who spoke to her with a certain joy.

"I thought you were never going to wake up! Our friend Pain did not go nicely on you, but he is not the type to strive for no reason ... You should have let it go, it would have saved you all this. "

His voice sounded oddly familiar; though she was sure she had never seen this man before.

"Finally, I admit that I was not very excited when I saw you the first time in this sorry state but ... now that I finally look at you in the face ..." the man approached a few steps from the bed and uttered a mumbling of satisfaction before resuming, "... they will be remarkable I'm sure..."

Akemi then displayed an expression of total disbelief.

"... But ... what are you talking about?" she stammered, "... who are you?"

He cleared his throat, putting his hand to his mask, and then joined his hands behind his back.

"You will perpetrate the Uchiha clan." Madara said solemnly.

Akemi paused, her face frozen in an expression of utter incomprehension. She had heard what had been said by this disturbing man, but her brain refused to assimilate it.

Silence came. Between the inexpressiveness of Pain and Akemi's immobility, Madara seemed the only living figure in this picture. With a sigh he resumed, obviously annoyed that his announcement did not have the desired effect:

"You will be the one who will bring forth the descendants of the Uchiha clan." he added impatiently.

Akemi looked perplexed, desperate and then amused. She smiled suddenly, shaking her head frantically.

"It's a joke, huh?" She exclaimed.

Pain was watching. He had himself been stunned by Madara's announcement so he dared not imagine what was going on in Akemi's head. As absurd as this idea was, he knew that nothing could resonate Madara, anyway he was not concerned.

"... But ... what are you talking about...you... are you crazy? The Uchiha clan has been decimated!" she hissed with a hysterical laugh.

Really, nobody could understand the importance of such an act. He clenched his teeth not to get carried away; this little bitch began to annoy him.

He approached her and lowered his mask close to her face. She shrank instinctively. Inside the only hole in this spiral mask she saw a black and shining pupil she stared at.

In a somewhat contrite and threatening voice he said:

"I am Madara Uchiha, the founder of the Uchiha clan."

If his ward had not become blood-red at that time, Akemi would probably not have realized immediately what her situation was. A sharingan; the crazy smile on her face disappeared at once.

"... it's... impossible..." she murmured in a breath, a cold sweat creeping into her body.

"My clan will be reborn, thanks to you, you should be more flattered to have been chosen." he murmured so close to her face that the sounds stung like needles.

"How... it's not possible ... you should be dead ... you're dead!" Akemi stammered, panicked.

"I am ... full of resources, you will see!" he said triumphantly.

He was satisfied now. He stood up, leaving her dazed, and turned to leave the room. One surprise at a time was enough.

Pain remained still for a moment, watching her. He found that fascinating the complexity that a woman could present. While she had seemed arrogant and relentless to survive in her fight, she now looked like a poor little frightened and fragile thing.

Her sudden change of attitude surprised him even more. Still shaking, she clenched her fists and swelled her chest. Her breathing became strong and she suddenly radiated a certain power, like a conviction. She looked up and glared at Madara. Something had changed in the room, the atmosphere had warmed somewhat.

Madara felt it. He stopped short as he was reaching the door.

"I am a kunoichi from the hidden village of Konoha," she said slowly as a litany. "I'm not alone; my friends, they'll come get me."

The countenance the girl had picked up surprised him somewhat and made him happy too. The moment he was getting impatient for had finally arrived.

"Do you know how long you've been unconscious?" Madara cut without turning around.

Akemi did not seem to react, but Pain perceived a change in her aura.

"It's been about a month ..." announced Madara slowly.

A shiver ran through her and her face paled.

Madara resumed, spinning around from the door.

"A lot of things have changed in the meantime. The pieces of my plan are starting to come in. My little protégé has gotten rid of his master and your dear friends from Konoha are far too busy looking for him to worry about a small insignificant thing like you!" He exulted. "You must know him by the way: Sasuke Uchiha."

_One month..._ Akemi's gaze was lost in the vagueness. It seemed to her that a cold, acidic liquid had begun to flow in her stomach.

"No one came to your rescue Akemi, those in your village have no regard for you as you fight for them, it's so sad!" jubilated Madara.

All the memories, the missions and the sacrifices made in the name of this village by her and her family, all these things poured into her mind like so many regrets, suddenly bitter.

Pain still watched her without saying anything. After what Madara had just said, he saw Akemi's face becoming discomfited; she had become pale and her mouth remained frozen in an expression of disbelief. She looked down at the sheet that covered her but without seeing it, her eyes misted and deeply sad.

Pain had not seen this look for so long; since Yahiko had been killed. It was the same look that had displayed Konan that day, that of someone who has lost everything.

Akemi no longer reacted, she struggled internally not to sink into despair and to convince herself that she would get by without them, but she did not know how.

Madara came back to her and knelt by the bed, out of reach of her inexorably tight fists. He looked down at the floor and clasped his hands in front of him as in prayer.

"You see," he said softly, "you don't matter to them, not more than a traitor."

He leaned over and gently approached his face to Akemi whose eyes filled with tears, then resumed in a whisper:

"But you mean a lot to me."

He stood still; just to see the tears overflow from the eyes of a petrified Akemi.

She could not see it but he was smiling with satisfaction behind his mask as he got up and left the room.

Pain, the silent witness, soon followed the Uchiha. The show had not been as satisfying as he had expected; Madara had won.


	5. Gehenna and Compassion

For a few days she remained prostrate most of the time.

Sometimes she would still find herself believing when she listened through the calm, hoping with all her heart that it would be brutally interrupted by an explosion, a crash, any noise that could mean someone came to save her. But the silence persisted, inexorably.

Her muscles were numb; she no longer felt her shoulder by force of immobility. She no longer felt her body, sometimes she was not sure she could still control it, or even stand up.

She sometimes forgot why she was there, thinking only of her so-called friends who had abandoned her. At other times she thought of Madara and shivered in disgust, driving out of her mind the things he wanted to do to her. She thought and still thought.

When she was tired of thinking she was falling asleep several times a day. Only the diffuse light that reached her through the window punctuated her days, although she had trouble distinguishing the day from the night sometimes; the sky seemed so dark.

One evening, or one morning, she did not know very well, as she was about to sink into a sleep without dreams again, a clatter was heard; the metallic sound of a key that is turned in a lock. She emerged instantly as her heart began to pound in her chest. It was almost painful so much her body had been inert lately.

She held her breath at the slight creaking sound of the door opening to slowly reveal a man dressed in dark and wearing a mask. At his sight her throat tightened. She wished she could freeze time just by stopping to breathe.

He closed the door behind him. Akemi watched him approach, helplessly. Her eyes barely betrayed the fear that gripped her.

Madara put a hand to his mask, which he lifted gently. Her heart was racing even more as the man unveiled his face, until it stumbled into her chest; while this man must have been over 80, he did not look older than her. He had black hair and eyes, features so common to his clan members, and pale skin.

Akemi tried in vain not to react but finally could not repress her surprise. His features were surprisingly youthful, only in his eyes shone an unhealthy light.

Obviously pleased with the effect, Madara smiled. Akemi was worried. It was rarely good for an enemy to reveal his face; it usually meant he wanted to finish with you. He approached again, reaching the bed where Akemi was trying to sink but her movements were far too limited for her to make the slightest dangerous move.

Madara grabbed the sheet that covered her and lifted it with one hand, letting it fall to the ground next to him. He bent over her, leaning on the edge of the bed. Akemi, overcome by panic, turned her face to the side, but he grabbed it in one hand and held it steady. He plunged his eyes into hers; his smile widened, seeing the fear there.

He grabbed Akemi's shirt at her thighs and, as she struggled, trying to pull on her ties in a start of fright, his pupils became scarlet.

_You coward!_ Were her last thoughts before sinking into nothingness.

 

* * *

 

She had sore eyes. Even though she had seemed to be sleeping, the pain in her eyelids when she closed them made her think that they had been kept open.

She did not really know what time of day she had arrived. It seemed that it was darker than before. But why was there no more sheet on her and why this burning sensation in her lower abdomen? She squeezed her thighs and felt a twinge in her crotch, a warm up and then the sting of raw flesh.

It was done; he had put his plan into action. He had not given her the slightest chance to fight, to talk to him, to spit in his face. Her heart was racing and her breathing was jerky. She wanted to cry with shame and rage, but the tears did not come, so she screamed until her throat and her eardrums couldn't bear it no more.

She tugged on her bonds, again and again, trying in vain to tear them off the bed, leaving her wrists and ankles scratched. The whole metal structure oscillated and squeaked sinisterly but did not give way, adding to the frustration and fury of the yells she uttered.

Nobody came.

Well, Pain came. The cries had attracted him. In the silence that usually reigned in these places, Akemi's screams had to reach the outside. Luckily the rain was choking everything. In the darkness of the corridor leading to Akemi's room, Pain walked in silence. The cries sometimes lost intensity and then resumed.

Through the open door he saw her. As a fury she pulled on the straps to take off the bed. If it were not the seals affixed to the links she would have already torn everything. Between her bare thighs there were traces of dried blood, pale but not brown, still fresh.

She was in pain, her whole body was screaming it loudly. He looked at her for a moment. He thought of all the complaints and screams he had already heard. This girl, her heart-rending cry had overcome the silence and her suffering was like a fluid that crept into all the interstices of the tower.

Madara surely heard her too and he was not coming because he was certainly the cause.

Pain could no longer look, he had the impression that the fluid was trying to enter him. He left his tower for a moment, out of reach of suffering, where the rain would filter all the sounds.

The shouts rang out the next night, and the night after. Akemi did not count the days anymore and her irritated throat no longer allowed her to speak distinctly. When she said no to the Uchiha, or she begged him, she produced only a thin thread of voice that did not stop him in any way, and Pain began to come out every night.

Although it was cold and methodical at first, the more the nights passed and the more Madara was pressing. Sometimes he did not even bother to use his sharingan to submit her; he used his fists and reveled in the torn sounds that he managed to tear from her.

First nights, then days too. After a few moments of this treatment, Akemi, too exhausted, no longer found the strength to protest, her body no longer resisted. Madara deduced from it resignation, even acceptance. Pain saw discouragement and distress. The little glow in her heart that had kept her alive despite her wounds was starting to fade.

On his side Pain saw Madara detach from his responsibilities day after day, becoming more and more obsessed with the girl. He did not speak, did not go out anymore. All efforts, all sacrifices in the name of this plan for peace would be in vain if nothing were done. Beyond any desire to save his clan and the world, Madara had yielded to his lowest instincts. Pain would never have believed him capable. He had to do something.

Providence was on his side. A host had been captured and all members of the Akatsuki had to proceed with the extraction. To send Madara personally was not easy this time but they had already lost members so he was needed there. Pain had three days in front of him. Three days to decide what he would do with her.

Two days passed since Madara was gone. Akemi expected him to enter her room at any time, but after those two days during which she had had more food, more sleep, and fewer blows, her body seemed to recover somewhat. However, a small voice in her head constantly told her that the respite would be short-lived.

At the dawn of the third day Pain entered Akemi's room. The smell of Madara still filled the room, an ominous smell that constantly reminded Akemi of the ordeal she was in.

It was still dark outside and only the glow from the corridor allowed him to see. She was no longer sleeping, she had felt his presence. Despite everything she did not react and kept her eyes closed as he slowly walked around her bed, making brief stops on his way.

_What is he doing?_

Despite the panic that threatened to invade her at any moment, she managed to control her breathing and, as every time Madara appeared, her muscles tensed as he approached.

Under her cloth, she slid her hands imperceptibly over her body. Her arms found no resistance as she brought them closer. She felt lower and touched the metal frame of the bed, there was no more strap.

_I ... I'm detached? Why?_

Misunderstanding quickly gave way to the instinct that urged her to react, telling her that it was the moment, the only opportunity that would be given her. At the bottom of her was born a small flame, gentle warmth that seemed to spread to her muscles from within; hope.

She smiled for the first time in a long time. But bliss could not last longer. As Pain came back to the door, he made a lance spout out of one of his hands. Akemi could only remember now how painful it felt when one of these things had pierced her. Her shoulder was seized with a spasm at this thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pain raise his armed arm over his head.

_Now!_

With elbow pressure on the mattress, she tilted her body out of bed and fell to the floor. Her aching muscles were going to have trouble keeping up. So the goal was to escape, not to fight, so much was she only able to move her arms to perform the necessary techniques.

It was so sudden; she had not taken the time to think about a strategy and had to react hastily. She clasped her hands and performed a few mudras.

"Ninpô Repulsion!"

The bed flew across the room and carried Pain along the way. He crashed hard on the wall and found himself stuck, with no ounce of surprise on his face.

Akemi, still on the ground, did not release the pressure and concentrated her chakra on the bed. A breath in her chest told her that she could not control her chakra for a long time, she just held the time for reflection. She released a few seconds to perform a new technique.

"Katon - Housenka no Jutsu !"

In a breath that was far more painful than she had thought, she created many small balls of fire that lit the bed that still held Pain. He did not even try to protect himself from the flames that burned part of his face.

He was much more reactive in her memory, something was wrong with his attitude. Slowly threatening her just after having detached her, then not attempting anything ... She was not sure to understand what he was trying to do and it was far from reassuring her.

Painfully and as quickly as her body allowed, she dragged herself to the window. She opened it hurriedly, struggling to hold on her legs. She was expecting at all times to feel a new spear piercing her back and her arms seemed to be agitated by fear.

Through the window she only saw at first the dark sky and the rain that whipped her face. It was only by lowering her eyes that she saw the buildings below.

_A building! ... I'm in a fucking building! That's why I didn't hear anything, we are at least 300 meters from the ground..._

She heard a crackle behind her followed by a sound that was growing; her fight came back to her mind. She was going to be propelled or sucked in, in any case it meant she was going to die or worse; that she was going to stay there.

Then she pushed her feet with the energy of despair and dropped down on the other side of the window, into the void. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands. She could have prayed but an idea came to her.

_"_ Doton, Domu!"

She fell like a stone, at an incredible speed, until she hit the ground with a resounding crash. A huge cloud of dust rose like a wave but fell back quickly under the heavy rain.

The few people around did not believe their eyes; in the middle of the crater stood a woman with dark orange hair and a dirty white nightdress, curled up on herself. She had a strange greyish skin with a mineral aspect, like the statues decorating the city.

A cry was heard among the few inhabitants present when the woman who had just fallen from the sky began to move. Trembling and flickering, she managed to get up while her skin cleared and took a more carnal shade. She was unscathed despite the fall.

At the cost of considerable effort she looked up at the window she had just left. The rain stuck her hair to her face and blurred her view; she only saw an orange dot somewhere above her.

A man approached her, hesitating, as she wavered on her legs, still trying to distinguish Pain's face. He touched her arm and Akemi had a recoil reflex at his touch. The man lowered himself and raised his arms in front of him as if to protect himself.

"Oh, sorry miss ... I did not want to scare you ... You ... are you all right?" he stammered.

Akemi watched him for a moment. She was not sure how to behave but in any case, this man did not seem to want to hurt her. Only she did not know what to say, she felt lost.

"Where ... where are we?" She managed to articulate in an almost inaudible voice.

"In Ame ... Are you sure you're okay?" he replied, lowering his arms.

"The village... of rain..."

"Uh... yes, yes... you... you'll get cold like this." the man said, taking off his coat.

He handed it to her as he looked down at the floor with an embarrassed look.

Akemi stared at the coat for a moment. Still a little stunned by the fall she did not understand immediately why he was doing this.

As a shiver ran through her, she looked down at her. The torrents of water that fell on her made her shirt translucent despite the mud that covered her, which showed that she wore nothing else underneath. Her hair was soaked, the tips dripping on her breasts hardened by the cold.

"Oh…" She grabbed the garment and put it on.

"How do I get out of here?" she asked calmly, buttoning the coat too wide for her.

"But ... you can't miss, borders are guarded, it's impossible to go!" exclaimed the man, incredulous. "And then you ... you've fallen, you have to be healed."

_Cross the lake to the East, you will arrive near the Land of the Wind._

"What?" she exclaimed in a dry voice.

_Do not go home._

Akemi realized that this voice did not come from the man who stood in front of her at his questioning gaze. She looked up, Pain's face was still there and he was not moving.

"It's you?" she asked as loudly as she could.

_To the East. Quick._ Resumed the voice in her head.

It could only be him. His presence up there and his inaction left no doubt. But why would he do that?

_Quick !_

She jumped. The voice was thundering and she regained consciousness. There was something urgent in his voice, as if danger was imminent.

_Madara…_

His heart suddenly raced at the thought. The lake to the east.

"The lake!" she said in a louder voice to the man who stammered in front of her without hope of being heard.

He froze. Instead of the vague gaze and flickering legs, she was standing upright now, and her piercing gaze betrayed her sudden determination. He no longer had to face a fragile chick who had fallen from the nest. Without a word, he raised an arm and pointed towards the lake, through the village. Akemi's gaze softened for a moment.

"Thank you."

She moved forward, slowly at first, her legs were not yet very assured, she was surprised even to manage to move after more than a month of immobility, two months maybe, or more. The time had seemed very long, held prisoner and broken night after night. Day after day too.

She had not been locked up only in a room, he had also locked her inside herself, making her believe that her fate no longer belonged to her, condemning her to bond with him forever.

She had initially lost hope until the escape, which she now knew was not due to chance, even if she did not understand the reasons. Pity perhaps. She really was not convinced, this Pain did not even blink, how could he stoop to such feelings?

Do not return home, he said. She had no intention of it now. She had already had so little before, so she did not have anything left over there.

Her legs regained gradually more strength, her body regained more balance with each step, driven by the anxiety to get caught by this crazy man again. She almost managed to run through the flooded and almost deserted streets of Ame where the day was barely up.

She reached the lake. Without thinking she plunged into the water and swam right in front of her. The water was cold and the heavy coat slowed her down and bothered her movements. Her lightened body no longer martyred her though, and her aching muscles became numb with the cold.

But she was no longer thinking, her movements had become mechanical. She did not want to consider fatigue so as not to risk becoming demotivated. She did not want to think about him anymore.

As she put distance between this place and her, it seemed that her heart was less contrite and her chest wider, as if Madare had held her in his hands and had tightened and tightened to make her smaller and more vulnerable.

When she got to where she had to go, this place that would recognize her, there, she would fully breathe again.

* * *

 

For almost two months since the research had been launched, the participants had begun to lose interest little by little. Some did not wish to participate at all, and the Hokage had not forced anyone.

She wanted to find her but Akemi was not a vital issue for the village and too much energy had already been spent on results that were still in vain. No trace of Akemi anywhere, no clue except those strange black bars. Izumo was desperate but the Hokage refused to use ninjas again in the search.

Akemi was officially declared missing in action, but not dead; Izumo had opposed it, supported by Kakashi who was careful not to make too much noise, preferring to continue research on his side as soon as the opportunity arose. As soon as the Hokage sent him perform missions outside the Land of Fire, he often took the opportunity to question those he met on a possible meeting with a girl with flaming hair, but nobody seemed to have seen her.

He had even returned to Suna to inform the Kazekage of Akemi's disappearance. He was very saddened by it and began to search the whole country of the Wind without any result.

Kakashi did not understand. He was looking for answers in his absences. His usual casualness sometimes struggled to hide the hole dug in his chest. His books no longer amused him. He would have liked to read stories about her, to have the impression that they had really shared something, that he knew her better than anyone.

But he could not afford to talk to anyone about it. Izumo was suffering too much from the lack of interest in her disappearance, his inability to keep her close to him.

Kakashi, meanwhile, refused to mope. He had decided to stick to the facts only. There was no indication that she was alive, but nothing indicated the opposite either. Whatever the reasons for her disappearance, he would one day know the truth.


	6. On the Edge of Change

Her chest ached, her lungs were on fire but she was so focused that she did not even notice that the rain had stopped.

She swam what seemed like an eternity then reached the shore that she climbed, mechanically crawling. Akemi did not allow herself to rest and it is soaked and exhausted that she went towards the dense forest that was emerging in front of her as she walked along.

The air was cold, colder than water, but her rough body did not yet feel the bite. She moved forward as if her body was animated by a proper will, that of survival. The soil, not yet frozen at this time of the year, testified to her passage; bare footprints succeeded her but it did not matter, in the forest nobody could follow it.

The day was totally up but like the usual autumn mornings, the sky was dark and foggy. This mist thickened at the edge of the trees, like a white veil that made the place ghostly. Akemi would not admire the landscape obsessed by her fixed idea, to put as much distance as possible between Ame and her. She entered the forest and her dark coat made her almost undetectable. Even her hair looked paler, consistent with the state of fatigue and anxiety of its host. A ghost among others.

Akemi plunged into the forest. Always guided by her instinct she walked straight. Visibility improved as the day progressed; rays of light pierced here and there the sometimes scattered foliage of the trees. But she did not care; her feet alone passed the obstacles, the holes made by the animals, the roots protruding from the ground.

Her footsteps were dampened by the thick carpet of dead leaves, although she did not have to worry about it because she no longer felt her feet. Her belly was shouting famine, her head was spinning, and her breathing was only a painful groan as the day began to decline.

Her gait became more and more uncertain and as she held herself against a trunk so as not to fall, she did not see the stone covered with moss behind her feet. To resume her walk, her foot settled on it and she slipped, her legs could no longer support her; she fell unconscious before even touching the ground.

 

* * *

 

Rustling disturbed the calm of the forest. The day was already well advanced but the sun could not pierce the clouds.

Two men were walking side by side with a gentle step among the cypresses. Nothing could be seen from their faces hidden by a long, dark cloak. Their eyes were masked by the white threads hanging from their sugegasa.

One of them stopped suddenly; somewhere in his field of vision, something unusual had appeared. His sidekick stopped a little further not seeing his partner at his side anymore. When he looked over his shoulder he saw him looking at his feet, and went to see it more closely.

A pale, dirty body lay on the floor, on a layer of humus and leaves. The curves that were outlined under a big heavy coat and a shirt that had been white once let guess that it was a woman.

While he was joined by his companion, the man knelt down, a white hand with painted nails emerged from his long wide sleeve and, with a gesture, he spread the orange hair stuck on the woman's face. She was cold and her breathing was imperceptible.

"She's dead?" asked the man who was watching the scene from above.

"No. But that won't be long." The man squatting close to the body replied.

"Mmm ... so let's continue." Decided the first, turning on his heels.

The kneeling man touched the cloak. The garment was soaked, beyond what the humidity of such a place could have caused. He looked up to look at the floor behind her. A thin path drawn by footsteps sank into the forest.

"She comes from Ame." He declared.

"So what?" said the other, turning around.

The man who was inspecting the body of Akemi stood up and put away again his hands in his sleeves.

"We're taking her away."

His interlocutor seemed to think for a moment before resuming. "What connection is there between Ame and this girl?"

"I do not know, that's why we're taking her."

 

* * *

 

A few beats and Akemi's eyes opened completely to rest on the ceiling, white, crossed by a ray of pale sun. It was morning. As the fog in her mind gradually dissipated, her senses returned to their places.

She was no longer cold. Good thing. She did not know where she was. Less good. She was not alone. Very bad.

In a start she sat up on what turned out to be a futon. She was in a room again, but the walls were clear and decorated with diaphanous dyes. Sliding doors closed the room and white veils gave a cottony and cozy appearance to the room. Only the atmosphere cooled considerably when she put her eyes on the two individuals who stood upright in a corner of the room.

They wore black dresses with red clouds. This time, these little motives did not amuse her. One of them was short with dark hair and a straight face with fine features. The other was taller and his face was strangely reminiscent of a shark. He wore an impressive-looking sword in his back. He smirked, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

Akemi shuddered and lowered her eyes; a blanket dropped on her belly for any coverage, otherwise she was naked. She seized it hastily and raised it on her chest. Her eyes, frightened, returned to the two strangers, the tall one no longer smiled.

Akemi was trying to control her breathing and the beating of her heart so as not to panic, while looking around to figure out any possibility of escape. She did not intend to spend another month of captivity with these kinds of people.

It must have been an inn seen the decoration, so two floors maximum. A closed window with no shutter stood about one meter fifty on the left, a rice paper door on the right equidistant. Nothing insurmountable, she thought. There was definitely a corridor to go before reaching the exit, or she could jump into the garden below.

She was naked, so much for modesty. Her faculties of analysis acquired during numerous missions gave her confidence. She was still a kunoichi after all.

Unfortunately, the men she had in front of her had not spent the last two months tied to a bed and their shape was certainly better than hers. But she had to try anyway.

Akemi had hardly tried to force on her still weak legs that she found herself face to face with the tip of an impressive sword, covered with bandages.

Its owner did not even have to move to reach her and was content to hold it at arm's length. Akemi remained forbidden. The blade did not look sharp but the carnivorous smile that the man showed did not inspire her anything good.

"Do you want to taste my Samehada?" he provoked.

She remained frozen, her anxious look alternating between the weapon and the ninja.

"So stay quiet." he concluded, bringing his sword back to him to put it back on his back without losing his smile.

The other man stepped forward. Seeing him advance, Akemi stiffened again, the knuckles of her hand whitened as she tightened the blanket. He stopped at the foot of the futon.

"Who are you?" he asked coldly.

Something troubled Akemi to see him more closely but her brain refused to make any connection with her memory. She said nothing.

"Answer me." He insisted on the same tone.

His face changed imperceptibly. Akemi narrowed her eyes; by moments her vision struggled to regain clarity, and when the man blinked, he revealed two scarlet pupils.

Akemi felt her heart stop for a fraction of seconds; as if it was anticipating the rush of blood it was going to have to deal with the next moment and was preparing to face it. She wanted to run away, disappear. Without realizing it, she closed her eyes as if to get rid of a bad dream.

She turned on her futon and got up to reach the wall behind her. Her gestures had lost all coordination and her thoughts were confused. Between two jerky breaths, a scream was trying to emerge from the bottom of her throat but her stomach revolted and she emitted only painful hiccups regurgitating a stream of bile.

Her legs gave way and she slumped against the wall. Her hands scratched the surface as if to pass through as she mumbled incomprehensible things, her face tense with terror, her naked body curled up. Then silence; she had lost consciousness.

 

* * *

 

"I say she's crazy, I don't see what you want to get out of her, Itachi..."

"I have to talk to her."

"Why, because of her reaction to your sharingan? She has already seen it, so what?"

"My eyes scare you, Kisame?"

"... No. Can't say the same about her though ..."

"Something happened to her ..." "Well, you'll be able to ask her, she's waking up."

Akemi woke up but this time she was not as comfortably installed as before.

Despite the blanket that covered her, her wrists were tied behind her back, as well as her ankles. She lay on her side and began to stir when the dark-haired ninja squatted in front of her.

"Calm down." He ordered. "I'm not going to do anything to you, I just have questions."

Akemi swallowed hard. Her throat, irritated by bile, did not subside. She clenched her teeth. She had regained enough consciousness to reason again but everything that came to her was a feeling of inevitability.

She hated herself at that moment. She had never yielded to the ease of "why me?" She had never yielded. She did not recognize herself anymore. If her father had been there she would have taken for her rank. He constantly reiterated that the weak deserve nothing but pity. He would have pitied her then. Tears came to her eyes as she buried her face in the pillow.

"Do you want water?" the man asked in a friendly voice.

Akemi snorted loudly and awkwardly wiped her face in the pillow before turning her head to the man again. He no longer had those awful red pupils, and his expression was more reassuring than before.

"Yes ..." she mumbled.

"Then tell me, who are you?" he asked more firmly.

She stared at him suspiciously.

"If you don't tell me anything, I will bring you back where I found you."

_He brought me here... I don't remember..._

"Very well ..." he snapped, rising.

"Akemi ..." she whispered at last in a faint voice.

The man stopped and then crouched again. Akemi was surprised not to see an ounce of satisfied smile on his face. This man was cold. As he said nothing, she went on.

" …Kishiro."

The black pupils of the unknown man swung to his right for a short moment, a sign that he was probing his memory.

"You're a kunoichi from Konoha, aren't you?"

Eyes wide, Akemi could not hide her astonishment. He resumed immediately.

"From the Kishiro clan. I thought they were all dead, you must be the last one now."

"She's a kunoichi ?!" exclaimed the shark-headed stranger with a smirk as he leaned against the wall behind his sidekick. "You must be kidding!"

The man with the sharingan did not raise the point.

"But who are you?" Akemi mumbled.

"You must have an idea, right?" asked the man near her.

"... An Uchiha."

"Yes, Itachi Uchiha, you must already know Sasuke, my younger brother."

Akemi shook her head slightly at the mention of that name, her face blank. Itachi frowned; if it was not him who had left her a painful memory of the sharingan then it could only be...

"You've seen a man from my clan, haven't you? Who was it?"

Akemi's gaze suddenly became fixed and she began to pale.

"Madara ..." she hissed, her voice uncertain as if uttering his name aloud could make him appear at any moment.

Itachi remembered the still-fresh wounds on her wrists and ankles, the recent scar on her shoulder. She had been tied up and, as far as he could see, she had also been beaten by the bruises on her abdomen and neck. Was it possible that it was he who really did it? For what purpose? Could it be that it was not a coincidence that he found her in his way?

"What did he do to you?" he asked with an ounce of concern in his eyes.

She could not answer, not verbally, but her body did it for her. She closed her eyes softly, not to remember, but to block the memories that were flowing in her head. Involuntarily she had brought her legs against her belly and folded back little by little on herself, as if to form an impenetrable shell.

Itachi frowned, not with anger, but with compassion. Madara was capable of abject things, but to humiliate a woman like that, even from the village that had once rejected him, so arbitrarily...

"Why? What did he want from you?"

His voice was no longer the same, his intonation softened. Akemi felt it by the gentle warmth growing in her belly. That soothed her. It had been a long time since she had met anyone friendly, only when she looked up she remembered that it was an Uchiha.

Mistrust was in order; this family had a liability too heavy with Konoha to be trustworthy. Akemi was angry at her little moment of carelessness. Her eyes and voice hardened when she replied:

"He wanted to ... revive your clan."

These words and this sudden surge of hostility hit Itachi. She was blaming him somehow and even if she might not know the details of his story, he knew he was indeed to blame. None of this would have happened to her if he hadn't fulfilled his merciless mission back then. None of this.

While Akemi did not let go of his eyes, he stood up and turned to the window. His partner was still watching the scene without saying a word, a smile on his lips.

Itachi looked thoughtful. Kisame knew him well enough to know that this look, falsely lost in the vagueness, hid an intense reflection. However, he was not sure of the content of his thoughts. Despite the apparent cordiality between him and Madara, he knew that Itachi did not have the least confidence in his elder. And this idea of giving birth to new Uchiha, he was not sure what Itachi could think, at least until he saw him furiously roll up his nose like an annoyed feline.

When he turned around and left the room without a glance and without even bothering to slide the door behind him, Kisame knew for sure that the idea did not please him. He glanced at Akemi, who interrogated him with a look, but paid no attention to it and went to Itachi outside.

"What's the problem, Itachi? This is your clan after all."

"His intentions are not as good as it seems, Kisame, he just wants to build an army and start all over again." Retorted Itachi with a cold anger barely noticeable in the voice.

"You know that it won't happen overnight!" Kisame exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders.

"He is patient… patient and dangerous." Itachi enunciated in a hard voice.

"Yes, well, I don't know myself, but it seems to me that this is not the way you treat the future mother of your children." Lashed the swordsman glancing at the window of the room behind him.

"... It may be too late already ..." Itachi murmured, more for himself than for his interlocutor.

"So you just have to kill her! ... Well, unless you want to keep her for you now! She's pretty cute ... Disturbed but ..."

"Why do you say that?" interrupted the Uchiha sharply with an angry look.

"Hey, I was there; I saw how you pitied that girl as soon as you laid eyes on her. It doesn't matter that she came from Ame, that she was beaten and raped by Madara, does it? Anyway you would not have let her die there Itachi. What's happening to you? It's unlike you." Kisame declared, crossing his arms resignedly.

Itachi had not realized his attitude. Although he was not the monster he let believe, he had the feeling that it was not pity that made him do so, it was something else. Fate perhaps or something bigger; a second chance to repair the irreparable, to save his soul?

"So?" Kisame insisted. "What are you going to do with her?"

"I'll be right back." Itachi simply replied, heading back to the inn.

Reaching the room he had booked, he gently slid the white board and stumbled onto a naked Akemi worm wriggling as she tried to untie the ties to her ankles. A blackened, steaming rope lay on the ground near her that once held her wrists. On seeing him she stopped and let out a curse. She showed determination, there was no doubt.

Itachi pretended not to worry or even to be moved by the sight of the feminine naked body in front of him. He walked over to the futon and, with a swift movement so rapid that she did not see it coming; he sliced the rope off her ankles with a kunai and picked up the blanket beside her.

He stood in front of Akemi, looking down on her. She was too dazed by his attitude to remember being embarrassed. Itachi held out a hand at her. She first made a slight wary movement back, then, seeing no aggression in his eyes, she grabbed his hand that soflty closed on her wrist before pulling her up on her feet.

Thanks to the futon she was almost his size. She did not take her eyes off him; it would be a matter of reacting quickly if he showed signs of hostility, even if she knew perfectly well that she had no chance against such an opponent.

Itachi slowly put his arms around her shoulders and grabbed the blanket with his free hand behind her back before gently covering it. He wrapped her in it, bringing the edges of the cover to her chest.

She took over, tightening the fabric on her so he released his grip. This sweet feeling again in the hollow of her belly, she could not stop it; a slight shiver ran through her.

"Are you a chuunin?" he asked softly.

"Um, yes." Stammered Akemi, troubled by the proximity of the man.

"You have no chance against him, you should run away." He kept on.

"Yes, that was my intention, but ... you ... you let me go?" Let Akemi escape involuntarily.

_Shut up, idiot!_

"Yes, with one condition." _Ah... it was too good..._ "You'll have to deliver a message."

"A message to whom?" she asked, wary.

"To my brother ..." _What!_ "According to my sources he is in the Land of Waves."

Itachi waited. Her frightened eyes fixed him at first intensely, in search of any sign of withdrawal, but Itachi's firm stare left no room for negotiation. She lowered her head, biting her lip feverishly, her eyes lost on the floor.

She did not seem happy to have to do this service. Or was it because she would have to hang out with an Uchiha again? She suddenly looked up at him resignedly, that probably meant she was willing to do it after all. So he went on:

"He is not alone, he is with a team he has formed of young ninjas like him."

"If I die in their hands what good in releasing me?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

"You'll know something Sasuke is desperate to know in exchange for your life." Itachi replied without letting go of her eyes.

"What is it?"

"Where to find me. It's me he wants. It is time to end it now." He finished without flinching. However, a veil of sadness passed in his eyes just a second, not fast enough for Akemi not to notice. "Tell him that I will be where our clan knew its former glory, and that I wait for him."

Obviously they had a heavy passive both. But she had enough worries like that to want to meddle in the lives of others so whe decided to pass on the details.

"Okay ... okay," she said with a sigh, tightening a little more the blanket. "But ... how do I get there? I have nothing for ..."

Itachi pulled out of one of his pockets a small leather purse that he handed her. Akemi hesitated a moment and then took it in her hand: money, enough to travel at least for ten days.

"You can stay here and rest as much time as you need, but don't wait too long." Added the Akatsuki ninja.

Akemi held his gaze and nodded without a word. Itachi nodded slightly in return then turned on his heels, leaving Akemi standing on the mattress, her hand holding the purse still stretched in front of her.

For a moment she felt the urge to hold him back. She restrained herself, wondering what was wrong with her. Was she so weak and desperate that even the least sign of affection was enough to make her sweet as a lamb?

Itachi slid the door of the room but stopped before going out.

"What are you going to do with the child?" he said without turning around.

"What?!" she exclaimed incredulously.

She had not thought about it. Too busy trying to survive the onslaught of Madara, she had never considered that life might actually break in the middle of all this suffering.

"I…"

"If there is a child," he interrupted, "it will be yours first and foremost."

She wanted to meet his eyes to try to understand where he was getting exactly, but he did not turn around, leaving her speechless.

"When you have finished with Sasuke, go to the village of Tani in the Land of Rivers, the Treasurer will give you money in exchange for the password." He resumed.

"The password? ..." Akemi murmured, lost.

"Madara."

The evocation of this name gave her a most unpleasant shudder. Itachi reached out and slid the door behind him without a glance. Akemi found herself alone, still wrapped in the blanket in the middle of the room.

She was not sure she understood everything that had just been played in front of her. In fact, she would not have been able to summarize all that on the moment. So she stood there a long time without moving, staring into space. By the time she gained her spirits back, realizing that no one would come anymore, the night was already falling.


	7. Feel yourself again

Itachi's words kept spinning in her head. What was he trying to do? Was he afraid she would abandon the child if there was one? Was he worried because he would be a descendant of the Uchiha clan or out of pure goodness of heart?

In the midst of the swirling steam of hot bath water, Akemi allowed her skin and body to soak up warmth and well-being as she wrenched her brains.

It had been three days since she was there, in this inn lost among the meadows and lakes that made up the north of the Land of the Rivers, on the border of the Land of the Wind. These three days had done her the greatest good.

She had recovered strength, her wounds healed wonderfully and her muscles had regained vigor. She would have liked to stay longer, but Itachi's request was more pressing in her mind, every day a little more like whispering in her ear to urge her to act.

_Find Sasuke Uchiha. Deliver the message. Recover the money. Why money by the way? For ... the child?_

Once she felt that the flesh of her fingers was crumpled enough, she came out of the bath. She passed the mirror and found that she had lost weight. Her belly, usually firm and flat, was now hollow and let guess the shape of her ribs. Her cheeks had lost in roundness and her arms appeared skinny for a fighter. Her hair had sprouted too and was now down to her back; only its color had remained unchanged. But soon she would have resumed the bull by the horns, besides she was already busy doing many hearty meals.

Akemi put on a bathrobe and went to her room, the only one occupied in the small establishment. She threw herself on her mattress as a child would, but taking care to cushion the fall, without bothering to turn on the light. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling where a faint moonlight was reflected.

_Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow I will go to the Land of Waves. Find him and then... Return home? ... Return to Konoha? ... Damn! First I do what I have to do, after we'll see._

Thinking was bad for sleep, and as long as it could still be good, in a decent room and a quality futon, it was better not to spoil it. She rolled to one side and fell asleep immediately.

Fortunately the innkeeper had been able to help her some clothes, an old gray cotton trousers too big and a blue sweater elongated at the elbows with cloth shoes that looked more like slippers than anything else. The coat she had recovered from a friendly hand at Ame had been cleaned. Nothing very fitting but it would do the trick while waiting to find better. It was already much more than she had when she arrived.

The innkeeper, an old man who looked after his nephew almost as old as himself, seemed to have taken a liking to her. She left with a backpack filled with some provisions, water and a map of the region.

Akemi put her nose out. A cool but sunny day was coming. Already almost naked trees strewed the plain, the winter was announced it seemed. It would be a question of not having to sleep outside, the time did not lend itself more to it.

She took the direction of the country of Waves, in the West. On her way, she would soon enter the Land of Fire. She dreaded it a little. She was afraid to fall back on familiar places that would remind her of memories.

She feared the nostalgia and sadness that could have deviated her from her path and found herself thinking about her old companions. She realized then that more than anything else, she feared falling back on them; Izumo, or worse, Kakashi. She did not want to be confronted with the fact that they were not looking for her. She thought she would stumble upon them by the side of a busy street to hear them laugh and talk about things and others as if she had never existed, as if she had never represented anything for anyone.

She felt her heart sink at that thought so she carefully avoided the big villages, rested as much as possible in the remote hostels, and walked at a steady pace, even running when she was crossing a forest.

In a small village, west of Tanzaku, she got rid of her rags to buy new clothes, more fitted and warmer. A black cotton jumpsuit, leather shoes, a wool vest and a gray hooded parka. She also invested in a gray wool bonnet, large enough to hold her hair. She would undoubtedly pass unnoticed in this way.

That night, she slept in that same village. Strangely, she dreamed of fields. Green fields as far as the eye could see in which she felt at peace. At times she had thought she felt a salty breeze, as at the seaside. As she woke up she felt strangely calm, and although the place had not seemed strange to her, she did not remember having seen such landscapes before.

The border with the Land of the Waves was not very far. It had taken her four days to reach it, and it was not until the evening of the fourth day that she arrived at an inn near the bridge called "Naruto Bridge." The evocation of the name made her smile even amused her. But she avoided going further into her memories, a habit she wished to adopt definitively.

She had reached her first goal; the hardest thing yet was to do.

Akemi went to the reception. The innkeeper gave her the key to her room while staring at her, no doubt suspicious that a foreign girl travels alone. Akemi smiled at him disdainfully and left.

After a shower and a well deserved meal, she lay down in a clean and welcoming bed. Like a litany she recited the things that remained to be done, every night, not to deviate and get to the point.

_Find Sasuke and deliver him the message. It should not be too complicated! Tell him that his brother is waiting for him. Itachi..._

Do not think before sleeping. She had forgotten this time. Among Itachi, Madara, Pain and whatnot, she saw the fields again. This time she was not alone in the middle of the fields, children were running among the shrubs. They laughed and shouted. Akemi had the feeling of knowing them but could not distinguish their faces. The children ran fast. They came and went, turning in circles. Akemi looked at them and smiled at them, she even laughed. One of them had approached her, but all she could see was his eyes, whose pupils were red like blood. Far from being frightened, Akemi smiled at him again. She was happy.

She awoke with a start, panting. If in her dream it did not seem to bother her, in reality she was not sure she could ever look back at such eyes without shuddering. However, she felt very troubled by the fact that she was not afraid.

The day was not quite up yet and the place was still silent. Normally she would have gone back to sleep without any difficulty but her mind did not want to calm down, so she got dressed and went out. It was raining outside. A fine and gentle rain, like those of spring. The temperature was all the more pleasant, so she put on her hood and walked a bit to stretch her legs.

She took towards Naruto Bridge but did not borrow it. Instead, she went south along the river's edge to an isolated bank.

_Hey ... and if I trained a little!_

She stopped, suddenly excited by the prospect of using her chakra again, which she had not dared to appeal to in recent days, not wanting to rush her convalescent body.

She turned to the water and clasped her hands in front of her chest, crossing her fingers, and concentrated. Closing her eyes, Akemi felt more distinctly the reactions of her chakra awakening in her. As she became aware of her body from the inside, she soon did not feel anymore the rain falling in light drops on her face and running down her chin.

In successive waves, she gradually activated each of her tenkettsus and circulated the flow throughout her body. This sensation made her feel good, she felt herself again, losing all perception of what was going on around her. She did not see the group of people emerging from the woods a few hundred meters behind her.

Akemi began merging her chakra gently. When balance was established between her energies, she formed a series of signs with her hands, with a sure gesture despite the time spent since the last time she had performed such techniques.

"Katon - Housenka no Jutsu !"

Her mouth formed a circle. She blew toward the water that seemed to engulf while a jet of flames of several meters roamed the surface, illuminating the surroundings of incandescent lights. The flames disappeared leaving only traces of smoke, traces of drops of water fallen in the fire.

Akemi smiled. While this was not as impressive a technique as the Doton techniques she mastered but for a warm up she was rather satisfied.

She clasped her hands again. Too busy trying to reconnect with herself she still did not perceive the four individuals approaching.

" _Katon - Housenka no Jutsu_ !"

In a new breath, Akemi expelled a multitude of fiery balls that reached the surface of the water in a scarlet swirl.

"Who taught you that?" suddenly emitted a male voice behind her.

Akemi turned her head, surprised. A man stood about three meters from her. He wore a dark cloak and his face was hidden under a hood. A few meters from him three other similar people stood motionless.

They seemed to wait for him to join them. The lingering darkness of that early morning served her too; he could not tell who he was dealing with from her figure.

"How does that concern you?" Akemi shrugged.

"These are techniques of the Uchiha clan it seems to me." said the man.

Akemi ticked at the mention of this name. She did not expect to hear it in the mouth of the first comer.

"They should not have taught them if they wanted to keep them for themselves."

A heavy silence fell that only the sound of the rain came to disturb. Akemi was starting to feel tense, not knowing what to expect from this stranger coming out of nowhere. She was not sure if she would be ready for a fight if it happened. Still, she did not intend to let it go.

"Where do you come from?" the man asked, still without the slightest emotion in his voice.

"Oh well! You're damn nosy, pal..." Akemi retorted, with a hint of annoyance.

At this sentence, one of the members of the group withdrawn took a step in her direction, but the stranger stopped him in his outburst with a gesture of the hand, spreading open his cloak and revealing the handle of a sword at his belt. Akemi had not moved but she had not lost a single detail of the scene. If she had a doubt before, now she was sure, he was the boss.

He exhaled a certain power and should not have the least doubt in his abilities to address thus a stranger who practiced ninjutsu. He was a ninja. Or a fool.

The man put his hand inside his cloak again and without a word turned to go to the inn. Two more followed, the last lingering on Akemi before joining them. Akemi stared at them until they disappear from sight. She relaxed a little but still felt the need to let off some steam. So she ran while the day was finally rising.

When she returned to the inn it was totally day. She was struggling to catch her breath and it was still reddened by the effort and stinking sweat that she dragged herself to the bathroom.

Her bath did her the greatest good and it is numb by the heat that she finally collapsed on her bed, the sleep she had lost that morning seemed to have caught up with her body.

 

* * *

 

"You're from Konoha, aren't you?"

Akemi did not count the nights she had dreamed of her village. She saw familiar faces there and woke up most of the time with a start and a tight heart. This deep voice, however, she did not seem to have heard it before.

"Who sends you?"

This time it was impossible not to hear it, she was not dreaming. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up but at the same time a cold blade landed on her neck, stopping her.

In the dim light inside her room, a silhouette materialized as her eyes became accustomed to the darkness. A man was standing above her, his face indistinct. Strangely, she did not feel any aggressiveness coming from him; if he wasn't threatening to slit her throat she might have misunderstood his intentions.

"Who sends you?" he insisted harder on his weapon.

She giggled disdainfully and felt the pressure weaken on her throat for a second, so she hit his elbow with her palm, disengaging herself from his grip. She wanted to use her legs but, covered by the blanket, her shot would have been too slow. She cocked her arm to punch him in the face, but he dodged, throwing his head back before throwing himself forward, blocking her own arm over her neck with his free hand.

He swung his weapon in his hand and planted it in the pillow, so close to her ear she heard the hiss of the blade through the air, blocking her other arm with his forearm against the mattress at the same time.

His white face, lit by the faint moonbeam crossing the window, stood just above hers, so close she could feel his breath. A strange impression seized her as if he were familiar to her. His dark, cold eyes framed by black hair suddenly reminded her of Itachi.

"Who are you?" she asked in a muffled voice, trying to breathe through her trachea crushed by her own arm.

"Stop fucking with me."

She felt a dull anger break in his voice this time but what really terrified her were the two red pupils that appeared in a blink of his eyes.

In a jolt Akemi immediately closed hers. The images began to flow in her head, the memories of Madara who abused her without her being able to oppose any resistance under the influence of his sharingan.

Her heart was racing as fear crept into her and threatened to make her lose her head. She struggled, trying to drive these scenes out of her memory, when in a flash of lucidity she suddenly realized that this man could only be him: Sasuke Uchiha.

Her mind became clear again and all her feelings fell silent as she opened her eyes. He was staring at her without blinking and without releasing the pressure on her arms.

"Answer me," he ordered dryly, "who in Konoha sent you to find me?"

"…No one…"

His pupils suddenly twirled like a kaleidoscope. Her body jumped out of panic and she hastily raised her voice despite her crushed trachea.

"It's not Konoha who sends me, it's Itachi!"

This time it was he who was disconcerted. His eyes came back to their original state in an instant as he released his grip a little, allowing Akemi to breathe a little more.

"What?"

"... Let me go," she said, pushing harder on the arms that held her. "I have a message..."

Sasuke released Akemi completely; she coughed and rubbed her throat. He straightened up and remained motionless beside her, but his clenched fists and tensed posture clearly delivered the message that he was waiting for an explanation and it better be a good one.

Akemi looked up at him. In spite of the harshness of his expression, his features were much more youthful than his eldest and of a disturbing charm too. He was not as scary as Madara but much colder and his insensitive look suggested as much cruelty as he did.

She knew the story of Itachi Uchiha, who had exterminated his entire clan, except for his younger brother. Only there, Itachi did not seem to be the more monstrous of the two. And then this proximity bothered her, he voluntarily invaded her space especially as it visibly troubled her. She would have liked him to step back, but he did not move and looked down on her.

"You ... you'll have to find him where your clan knew his hour of glory ... it's how he said it..." she stammered.

Sasuke looked pensive for a few moments but when his eyes hardened, Akemi had a bad feeling and wanted to throw back, away from him. The Uchiha did not give her enough time, he crouchand instantly and grabbed her by the throat.

"What are your ties with Itachi?" he hissed angrily.

He squeezed his fingers a little more while taking out a kunaï with his free hand. Reflexively, she tried to make him let go.

"Say something or you will die." He added.

"... fuck... fuck you..." she managed to articulate.

It took a fraction of seconds for Sasuke to capture her gesture but Akemi had already hit. With a swift movement, powerful enough to unbalance him, Akemi's knee had hit his ribs on the left side.

Sasuke let go and Akemi took the opportunity to push him violently against the wall behind him with a kick on the sternum. Sasuke took the shock without the slightest harm but when he raised his head alerted by a sound of broken glass, she had escaped through the window and was running toward the woods.

Akemi ran quickly, as fast as her legs and lungs allowed, without turning around. She was not ready to give up. Not now and never. If she had to face him then she had to at least give herself the advantage of the pitch and, by night, she might have a chance to beat him.

He was on her trail, she felt it, but there were only a few meters between the trees and her.

At last she reached it; she sank as far as she could between the trees until she heard the dull sound of the trunks that were struck in passing. He was moving fast, far too fast.

She threw herself to the ground and rolled under an old hollow trunk just in time to avoid the fireball coming in her direction. The light had been so blinding that she could not determine the source of the attack. The forest seemed motionless and moving at the same time.

An autumn breeze made the crackling leaves vibrate as it made Sasuke's location difficult, but her own too at the same time.

She tried to control her breathing so she could not hear the beat of her heart pounding in her chest. Her muscles, warmed by adrenaline, were tense, waiting for a slight impulse to restart.

In spite of herself, she smiled. Fighting had a euphoric effect on her. Whatever the outcome, the beginning of a clash was her favorite moment. It made all her senses awake and sharpened her survival instinct. It aroused her too.

Sasuke was certainly doing the same thing; he had to search the forest from his hiding place to locate her. The first to move would undoubtedly be discovered. Only he had the benefit of the sharingan, and she knew it.

"Doton - Doryuu Katsu," she murmured, putting her palm on the floor in front of her.

A muffled crackle sounded and then grew into a roar. The noise clearly allowed Sasuke to spot her. He threw himself from the branch on which he was, and turned towards the noise that was growing. She was only sixty meters away, but he was soon stopped by the huge ditch that separated him from her. She had dug in just a few seconds a moat around her.

At the bottom of the precipice she had created lay the trees that were planted in the ground there a few seconds before. Akemi stood in the center, squatting near the hollow trunk, on a small platform she had kept intact. Already she was performing a new technique with her hands, of which Sasuke could only hear whispers but understood from the first sign of her hands that it was a Doton technique.

He heard a wet snap. Below, what was left of the vegetation gradually disappeared into what seemed to be mud rising at an impressive speed. The ditch filled quickly and the silt stopped rising to ground level. At night we could no longer distinguish the firm land from the sea of mud that Akemi had just created.

She seemed determined not to make things easy for him. Sasuke could not quite see her face but it seemed to him that she was smiling at his hesitation to act. He clenched his teeth; she was starting to annoy him.

With a barely perceptible thrust on his legs, he lifted himself from the ground and unsheathed three kunaïs that he threw in the direction of Akemi, before landing on a branch overlooking the freshly created marsh. The latter were returned to him at once without Sasuke knowing how; he stopped them with one hand with the help of his sword.

She was smart. The pond would force him to fight from a distance, or to take the risk of making himself vulnerable by attempting to cross this quicksand.

That's what she was probably waiting for. At this distance, his sharingan would not be of much use to him. But it was only dirt. He just had to remove this factor from the equation.

He quietly put his sword back in his belt without leaving sight of Akemi isolated on her artificial island. From a few mudras done, he clasped his hands to focus his chakra; a blue chakra emitting a shrill sound that scattered in a thousand small flashes before joining in the palm of his hands.

The glow produced brightened his face; he too was smiling now.

"Chidori eisō!" he chanted.

This could become fun eventually.


	8. The Nature of Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note to say that...I'm sorry, this chapter sucks.   
> I even tried to rewrite it but I'm so lazy to redo all of it so i tried to just make it a little more coherent on how it can end up like this (i mean...sex).  
> For my defense, it was my first sex scene ever written so it's clumsy as fuck (not that my latest are much better but hey...).  
> Oh well, judge for yourselves folks!

From what she could see, Sasuke seemed to materialize a tremendous power in his hands; an electric blue chakra that kept growing by squawking high-pitched birds to form a spear.

At this distance Akemi could easily avoid it, so it had to be something else. When he launched his projectile, she realized that she was not the direct target. The spear flew towards the swamps that surrounded the kunoichi and was swallowed up. Akemi was puzzled and looked at Sasuke who smiled at her. It couldn't be good.

Suddenly the mud began to boil, big bubbles formed on the surface and burst. They grew bigger and formed only one that exploded literally in a thunderous thunder, throwing almost all the mud about twenty meters around, and on Akemi who protected her face with her arm.

She was nothing but a mass of mud from head to toe. When she removed her arm she did not see him anymore, Sasuke had moved. She glanced around her but there was no trace of him. She crouched and murmured:

"Doton - Dochuu Eigyo no Jutsu"

From the tree behind which he had protected himself, Sasuke saw her disappear into the ground, as swallowed. The earth was obviously her element but it was all to his advantage. He activated his pupils and looked down at the floor. There was only one huge crater but despite everything, he saw a bluish form move quickly in the bottom and then go up on the edges of the hole without any difficulty, as if it was swimming. Going first towards him, the mass of chakra bifurcated on the left forming a right angle and took straight among the trees again. She wanted to play it seemed.

Sasuke followed her from the surface. Akemi waved between the tree roots leaving Sasuke impressed by her speed underground. She was sinking deeper and deeper into the forest, eventually believing that she wanted to tire him, so he accelerated to overtake her while clearing his sword from its sheath. He placed his free hand in front of his face against which he placed his blade which wrapped itself in the same lightning chakra. With a push on his legs he accelerated further by extending his weapon over his head and plunged it into the ground on the trajectory of Akemi who, luckily, stopped dead in front of the blade.

Without her being able to anticipate his gestures, Sasuke created a chidori in his right hand and plunged it into the ground, piercing it to reach Akemi. Only the depth was salvating because it would have pierced through her otherwise. His technique reached her cloak, which he seized in his fist and pulled it all out of the ground into a sheaf of loose earth. In his tracks, he threw her against a tree behind him.

The shock cut her breath and immobilized her for a few seconds, one knee on the ground. One could only guess her contours because the earth which covered her as well as the remains of mud provided her with a perfect camouflage in such an environment.

Only Sasuke was fighting with his sharingans that no disguise could have fooled. He knew she was behind him; he had only to turn his head slightly to see the flow of her chakra out of the corner of his eye as he walked slowly toward his sword to take it back to the ground.

Akemi was now uncovered and out of breath. Despite everything she did not give him the opportunity to grab his weapon. Her hands formed indistinct signs in the dim light.

_"Ninpô Attraction_."

She stretched out her right hand. As Sasuke held out his own to grab the handle, it began to vibrate. He stopped instantly not understanding what was happening. The silence behind him suddenly worried him and he turned his head just as the sword shot out of the ground and flew to Akemi's outstretched hand, drawn like a magnet. It was the blade she caught. The cutting edge sliced through her palm and blood ran down the blade, but she did not care. She grabbed the handle and stood up, stretching the sword in front of her towards Sasuke.

The handling of weapons was not her forte but it would save her some time.

"You are full of surprises!" he exclaimed.

Akemi remained motionless. At this distance it would have been useless to use the ninjutsu, so she remained on her guard to ward off any physical attack.

Slow ripples were first heard around before reaching them. The rain that had stopped in the morning resumed its song, gently. The sparse foliage of the trees could soon no longer attenuate the drops that fell on them as the downpour became more severe.

"In the end, I don't care how you relate to my brother, he left you alive and that's enough reason to kill you!" he exclaimed with a cruel grin.

Akemi tried by all means to disregard the red pupils of her opponent but at these words she shuddered. His eyes wide, he had a little crazy look. Akemi was not afraid, however, of him or of dying. At that moment, she feared nothing. It was the fight of her life, it was what she felt.

"You're right, you don't wanna know..." she retorted with a heavy hint of innuendo.

She stepped forward, slamming the sword in front of her. Sasuke, taken aback by her words, reacted just in time not to be reached, but the belt of his kimono was sliced clean vertically. Akemi resumed her guard.

He knew from that moment that she was not kidding anymore. He straightened up as his belt fell to the ground. He grabbed the sides of his coat and took it off. There, on his chalky stomach, a fine and scarlet line appeared: the trace of the passage of his own sword. He saw it and smiled badly at Akemi whose eyes were blurred by the mud on her face.

"You will not get this chance twice."

Akemi wiped her face with her sleeve.

"You should be more careful then." She retorted.

He rushed on her. Akemi barred the road with the sword but could not repress a move back. He jumped to kick her but she lowered herself and moved away from a roll. Sasuke took out a kunaï from his belt and then counterattacked.

The weapons clashed violently, but the sound of blows could not surpass the sizzling rain that covered them. None of them intended to give up ground. They tried to hit each other but without success. Akemi did not have enough experience with weapons to excel and Sasuke had only a small kunaï on his part. Everyone was at his disadvantage.

Seeing no way out, Akemi tried a front kick to unbalance his opponent but he turned on his side and knocked Akemi's arm making her drop the sword. A new trail of blood covered her arms but she did not let go and retaliated with an elbow to the face that hit him on the cheek. He stepped back. Akemi took the opportunity to generate a continuous stream of fire in his direction, but with a roll he avoided it and threw himself to punch her in the face. The blow sent her to the ground.

She felt a burn on her lip, open. It was bad; her chakra was starting to run out. She wanted to get up but her feet slipped on the sodden dead leaves and Sasuke grabbed her by the coat on her back.

Akemi released the sword and stretched her arms back, which slipped out from the sleeves and Sasuke found himself with an empty coat in his hand. She ran zigzagging between the trees, not knowing exactly where she was going, not knowing where Sasuke was. She ran again. He was not far but the fatigue began to be felt. It had to end quickly.

He pursued her. He did not delay in catching her, but she did not hear him approach. He plunged and managed to grab one of her ankles and made her fall to the ground. She screamed in surprise and rage. Akemi turned on her back to kick him in the face but he threw himself on her and sat on her legs. Catching her wrists he pinned them to the floor above her head. Sasuke wanted to keep a little more composure but could not slow his breathing. Akemi, now helpless, was trying to catch her breath as well.

"Well ... since we're here ... you'll tell me why..." he gasped, his face dripping over Akemi's.

"So now you care?" she panted in return with a sarcastic grin.

"Just spit it out!" he huffed as he tightened his grip on her hands.

"He took pity on me; Itachi can do that, what about you?" Akemi growled back.

Sasuke froze for a few seconds, his eyes becoming skeptical before hardening again.

"Ha! You idiot, he fooled you! Itachi feels no compassion, he just can't!"

"I'm pregnant with an Uchiha!" she exclaimed suddenly.

In front of Sasuke's suddenly incredulous face, Akemi felt something flicker inside her. This uncertain look reminded her of Itachi's and the same tenderness she had felt for him during those moments when defenseless he had comforted her, was beginning to dawn.

Her voice was as diluted by the water falling on him but Sasuke had heard it. With a flutter of his eyelids, his sharingans disappeared. He looked at her, her face embarrassed whose rain had cleared the mud, and her chest that rose quickly to the rhythm of her short breaths.

"... it's ... you're lying, it's impossible ..." he whispered, his eyes wide with amazement. "Itachi would never have ..."

"Maybe ..." she teased him absently. Her eyes would feverishly scan Sasuke's chest, which was overhanging her, glabrous and dripping with rain. She suddenly felt a hard time concentrating on the threat he represented; something seemed to come to life in her belly.

"... or it could be you ..." she resumed with a sigh, finally looking up at his face.

She was not really aware of having said it or even why she had said it. The excitement of the fight maybe. The adrenaline. The fear. Forgetfulness. Replace one Uchiha with another. None could have been worse than Madara. If her child had to remind her of someone she preferred that it is this one, if not Itachi. Yes it was the only possible explanation; it could not be because her abused body claimed an embrace, a bit of warm.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't really hope that he would save her actually. Her mind had probably lost all reason to believe that she was even pregnant and above all, to wish such a thing from this lost kid that only vengeance seemed to animate. So, she expected him to end her at any moment.

Sasuke suddenly released her wrists and lifted his face to the dark sky for a moment, welcoming the rain with great silent breaths. When he lowered his face to her again, he wore an indecipherable expression, there was no anger anymore and he seemed absorbed.

He put his fingers on Akemi's swollen mouth and wiped the blood nonchalantly. She tried to catch her breath, exhausted by the heavy rain that was falling on her face. He suddenly grabbed the collar of her combination in his hands and parted, bluntly. The buttons on her chest gave way, revealing her breasts, immediately assaulted by the storm. Sasuke went lower on the garment and blew the last resistances. There, there was no way back, so exposed she was at his mercy.

Akemi tried in vain to free herself, without much conviction, however, as he lowered his bust on hers. Pinning her to the ground, he plunged his hand between her thighs. His fingers made their way to Akemi's crotch and she screamed as they entered her. It was a cry of surprise and apprehension. The last touches to this part of her anatomy had been very brutal, but although Sasuke's fingers were not the most delicate, their jerky movements inside made her stomach tremble in a nice way.

Sasuke clearly perceived the warming that was taking place in her. He could feel the smooth, supple walls that matched the shape of his fingers and the moist heat that emanated from them.

Akemi's body was jerking; he felt it beneath him, as if she did not understand the sensations flowing from her lower abdomen. Her whole face reflected incomprehension, but her closed eyes and short breathing revealed the nascent pleasure.

He took off his fingers and undid the top of his pants. She did not look at the swollen sex he revealed, obsessed with the attitude of the Uchiha who without a word was taking possession of her. He guided his cock to her entrance and penetrated it, tearing the long-awaited cry. He could not hold himself a grunt, he was so tight inside.

Her body contracted, her legs stretched in spite of herself. She grabbed Sasuke by the arms but was not sure if she should push him away or hold him back. Her skinned hand left a trail of blood along his forearm.

His first blow was prolonged; he pushed on his pelvis as if he wanted to lift her from the ground. It was not painful despite Sasuke's strength. Then he released and came back, still so strong. A scream stuck in her throat when she saw he was watching her. It was always the fight; a single sign of weakness on her part and he would have won. So she dropped her arms on the floor, along her body, clenched her teeth and held his gaze, challenging him to snatch even the slightest sound from her again.

He accelerated then. His thrusts always hit her more harshly without her deigning to emit the slightest mark of pleasure. She held everything in her, she almost suffered but she would not lose this duel there.

He began to lose ground. Between the rage to see her take over and the orgasm that began to rise, it seemed about to explode. Still a little, he had to hold on. She should yield.

He put his hand under her jaw and squeezed hard. Akemi moaned under the pressure and grabbed his arm to free herself. He accelerated more, his pelvis knocking against that of Akemi, until he came inside of her. Finally he screamed. She did too. Their bodies were stiff and time seemed to stop on that moment before Sasuke fell heavily on her.

Neither could say who had won this fight. Everyone had yielded to his low instincts so maybe they had both dropped out. That's what Akemi thought as she emerged from her sleep that morning; wet hair tangled with twigs and yellowed leaves. None of them would have to admit defeat, he was gone. Or was it a draw?

The mist had invaded everything. She did not know how long it had taken her to reach the inn, or even if anyone had seen her in that pitiful state. She did not have the strength to undress, let alone wash. She fell from exhaustion on the futon she had left only the night before, it seemed like an eternity. Maybe he was still there, but she did not believe it.

She sank. Her sleep was peopled with strange beings, strange places and children.

_Mmm ... Where ... Where am I?_

Akemi raised her head painfully. She had the feeling that her body had remained motionless for months. Her limbs were heavy and sore. She tried unsuccessfully to get up but only managed to move a hand to her face. She did not recognize the smell, was it her hand? She opened her eyes to finally notice the painful brown cut across her palm, dirty and stained with dried blood. Everything came back to her. In a start she sat down and all her muscles made her understand that it had not been a good idea.

_Sasuke ... the message..._

_It's over._

Her task was accomplished, not without difficulty. But she had succeeded; she had exceeded her own limits and fears. She had survived and she liked it.

She took a deep breath, her ribs ached, but the most unpleasant was the smell. Earth, sweat, blood, sperm. She was nothing but a filthy mass. It was the first thing to do, wash.

The water of her bath was soon in the same state. As she rubbed her crotch, she ached, but not like with the other. It was painful because it had been intense and spontaneous with Sasuke. She smiled at this thought; she would have liked to see this cold little face ashamed of having let himself go.

And after that?

And after that, it would not have anything to do with Sasuke, or Itachi. With no one else besides, it would be no more than her. It was naked in front of the bathroom mirror that she realized she was alone now; she had no more attachments, no more missions.

Herbruised body bore the marks of the blows of the fight. Her right arm wore the kunaï's scar, and her lower lip showed a cut that she could not help licking. Apart from all that, she was almost unhurt. And no trace of pregnancy at least as much as she knows the symptoms.

_Now ... eat!_

No more clothes to put on so she went out in a bathrobe and had a hearty meal served to her. She sent her favorite innkeeper to get her clothes. She had the means, so he abdicated and brought her the same clothes that she had worn before, although he did not understand what she had done to the previous ones.

One night. She had one more night left and she would leave the next day for Tani, still following the instructions Itachi had dictated.

_And after that?_

_Disappear._


	9. An Uncertain Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's the last one!  
> Sorry, my writing wasn't at it's best at that time, and it's probably not awesome today either haha, but I think I have improved a little :')  
> Please enjoy if you were still waiting for it!

If he had been asked how he got there, he would surely have said, "It's a long story". A little feint used to hide that he probably did not know anything about it himself.

If he had been told to give his reasons, perhaps he would end up saying the first thing that came to mind. It was she. She: war, death, sadness, destiny, coincidence. But more like she; the woman.

He could not tell what had helped him through the last four years as one crosses a bumpy plain, as in a daydream. Akemi had certainly been the trigger for all this. He had lost loved ones during this war, close friends, teachers and students. However, he was already sad, long before all this happened.

What to do once everything is finished otherwise look? Look for a reason to continue, or to stop. Seek hope in yourself or others. Convince yourself that everything will change, that we must still believe in a happy tomorrow. So he left. Without even looking back at those who remained, without an explanation, he had left Konoha.

He was looking for new promises now, crazy hopes. He was looking for her, as he had never stopped doing.

He had scrutinized the armies, searched the villages and examined the dead. Even so, Kakashi never thought of ever seeing her again. It was surely this denial that had brought him to where he was, on this green hillside lined with fragrant tea plants, bordered by the sea.

He had seen places marked by battles during his journey. Villages still filled with grief. Sinister places where one cursed the assailant, the stranger, or even his neighbor for his inability to stop the massacres. But where he was, it seemed that time did not flow in the same way. Everything was bright and peaceful. It was another dimension where the war had not taken place: the Land of Tea.

There were no fighters there. No schools for turbulent ninjas apprentice. No warlord, no army. No problem. Nothing but spray, fresh air and tea.

In a place where serenity seemed to be a way of life, nothing surprised him to see children running and laughing. Screams of joy he had almost forgotten. Amused, he had joined them beyond the flowering plantations. There, on the beach lining the hill, two children ran and heckled.

An ephemeral smile passed over his face as the children stopped in front of him, troubled by the sight of a stranger with a masked face. There was a boy and a girl of the same age; he would not have given them more than four years. They looked alike, with their mutinous faces and freckles on their noses. They had black eyes but above all, both had incandescent orange hair.

To see themselves thus observed their glances darkened. Their expression gave Kakashi an impression of déjà vu, but it did not come back to him. However, their hair...

_Could it be that...?_

"Hello," he said in the most joyous tone he could, "I am Kakashi Hatake." The children did not seem inclined to sympathize with a stranger, whatever his name.

"I ... how to say that ... your mom is here?" he tried, unsure.

"... No." the boy said with a hard look.

"Ah ..."

The little girl leaned over her brother's ear, who kept his eyes on Kakashi, to say a few words. This look was familiar to him, but he still could not put a name on it. Yet everything in them reminded Akemi, even their insolent attitude. He had wanted to see that face again; he would have recognized it among a crowd.

"Are you a ninja?" asked the little fellow.

"Yes, from Konoha and ..."

The attitude of the children changed suddenly. At the mention of the village, they exchanged a glance of which only they understood the meaning, then began to run as fast as their little legs allowed.

Taken aback, Kakashi followed them with his eyes. They had skirted the beach and then went up the dune, which bordered it, and disappeared. Could it really be simply there? He could hardly believe it. So many years to get to that point and, as he seemed to be nearing the goal, everything seemed so unexpectedly easy.

He followed in their footsteps, his gaze haggard. He was moving slowly so as not to risk making everything disappear, perhaps he was just dreaming. Yet he felt the soft sea breeze in his neck and the slight bite of the spring sun on his feet. He was abnormally hot and his mouth was dry.

He had the impression that the dune was slowing him down, that he would never reach the summit. When at last he succeeded, he only saw fields resplendent with green and white. In the middle of the plantation, a path was emerging. He borrowed it mechanically although he no longer saw the children. It was only after a few meters that he saw a house.

An aged wooden porch and clear stone walls, dulled by salty air and years. He could see the entrance as he approached. The door was open. His mind was confused, if it really was her, what would he do, what would he say? However, if it was not her, where would he go next?

He arrived at the end of the road. There was still a few meters between him and the steps of the porch, but he stopped at the mouth of the field. The place seemed suddenly unreal. Could it really be her home, growing tea and raising children?

Maybe she would look like her but would she really be the same? Would she remember him? His mind beset with doubts as his eyes searched frantically for answers on the dusty ground at his feet, he did not see the woman who had just come out under the porch. He heard footsteps in front of him, it came down the steps, and the wood creaked underfoot.

It came in his direction. He held his breath and looked up; it was her. Always slender, her hair always flamboyant, skin a bit more matte than before. But there was something more, she exuded a certain quiet strength, a reassuring and serene aura. She was looking at him, without the slightest expression on her face. Her golden-tinged eyes stayed in those of Kakashi as she advanced.

Before he finally decided on how to approach her, she was already planted in front of him. Her mouth gave a smile that did not fit with her gesture; she slapped him.

The force of the blow threw his head to the side. At first stupefied, it was only after a few seconds that he felt the burn on his cheek. He slowly raised his face, Akemi still smiled but her eyes betrayed her confusion, a mixture of anger and doubt. She had not changed, and he was relieved.

To look at each other in the face, Kakashi thought she was going to tell him something, even insults. This slap was still a meager punishment for the little effort that had been made in her favor.

He had no idea what she could have endured. It was not until after Pain came to Konoha that he understood that it was him who had taken her away. He had sown all these spears of a strange metal on the plain and spilled her blood.

Since he had nearly died under the blows of one of Pain's bodies, he had first thought she was dead too. Then he met Madara Uchiha, who had come to destroy Konoha again, who had turned the whole village upside down in search of someone, a kunoichi. The connection was obvious since Pain was working for him. It was inevitably her, it was said that this woman had made him mad. He had then resumed hope; she must be alive...

_But then ... Madara, the children? No ... it cannot be that!_

He came to realize part of what had been her ordeal. A slap was a meager compensation finally. How could he do this to her? He could hardly believe it.

She was done. She was about to turn back without even saying a word, her lips still stretched in that fake smile as to contain the turmoil inside of her. Kakashi grabbed her wrist to hold her back, distraught.

"Wait! ... Why? ... Why didn't you come back?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Her gaze was lost for a moment then she looked at him, opposing no resistance to the firm hand on her arm.

"It was too late, it was not home anymore." she said in a calm voice as her smile faded.

"That's not true ... we never forgot you."

"I'm glad to hear it ..." Akemi started, turning her eyes to the ground in a slight shake of her head.

"I never stopped looking for you Akemi!" he cut her.

She froze. It was what she had always wanted to hear since everything had started. Her vision became blurry as her eyes fogged then.

"Thank you ... Kakashi ..." she whispered.

"Mom ..." a little voice whispered behind her. Akemi turned her head hastily; two little heads had appeared at the window behind her.

"It's okay, kids, I'm coming," she said with a smile, trying to control her trembling voice.

He did not let go of her, tightening his grip on her wrist. If he did, he feared that she would disappear again and he needed to understand.

"... Who is their father?" he dared.

Akemi stared at him again and finally gave a small and honest triumphant smile. Kakashi recognized that expression. It was the one she wore when she had done something stupid but that had turned all to her advantage.

"You did not recognize him? They have his eyes ..."

"Yes ... I ... know those eyes but ... it was not ..." Kakashi stuttered, hesitant.

"You have known him well ... He was your pupil, it seems to me." She let out as she smirked.

"... what? How is it...? Sasuke?" he exclaimed, puzzled.

He looked at the children. Their suspicious glances, those piercing eyes, it appeared to him as evidence at that time.

"How is it possible ?" he murmured, more to himself than to Akemi.

"They should have been from Madara but ... Sasuke was stronger ..." she replied softly.

"That's what Madara wanted?" he resumed.

"That's why he made me kidnap, he wanted to found his clan again, and then, when I managed to escape, I ... well, I came across Sasuke by chance and ... it just happened." She concluded in a firm tone, making clear she would not go into further details.

Kakashi appeared puzzled again but chose not to insist on the matter. "They are Uchihas then ..."

"Hm. They did not have much luck in Konoha in the past, it seems to me." She added ironically.

"That's the reason you decided not to come back?"

"... Yes ... among others, but they are not Uchihas, well ... not completely, they are my children, they are Kishiros."

She was smiling for real this time. She was happy and proud, he could tell. He would have liked to contribute to it. He wanted to find her before and help her, save her. In the end, she had managed alone; it was what was meant to be.

After all, he had never seen her smile that way before. She had found peace now; he did not feel the right to spoil everything. He had found what he had been looking for, the proof that she was alive and well; he should be satisfied with that. He dropped her arm.

Without a word, or even a look, she turned and walked up the steps to her door. The children came running and clung to her legs. Kakashi was about to say goodbye to her without even expecting an answer but she turned back to him.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"... I ... will continue my journey, I think."

"... Well ... if you have nothing planned for ... let's say, the next ten years ..." Akemi looked down at her children who were looking at Kakashi curiously now, while he was hanging on to her words. "I don't know how to use the sharingan so ... I...huh, they might need you." She looked up at him with hesitant eyes.

_Is she trying to...?_

In front of his silence, she went on.

"Do you want to stay with us?" she finally let out in a short breath.

She blushed. That reminded him then that night, on the roof of the building in Suna. It suddenly seemed to him that it had happened the night before. Time was such a strange thing.

Once again, he had lacked the courage to face his feelings, to say that he never wanted to lose sight of her again, to give her the touch they were both craving. But this time she had taken the lead.

In the end, she might not be the same anymore. She had become as ductile as gold and more voluntary than fire.


End file.
